


far beyond the universe

by ctrlaltdeletion (redsuns)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Adam (Voltron) Lives, Back to Earth, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Found Family, M/M, POV Multiple, Post-Season/Series 06, Season 7 fix-it, Slow Burn, Team Bonding, all the ships are main ships i'm here to feed everyone to the best of my ability, allura being treated like a main character and not just a love interest/prop, broganes, character arcs that are actually interesting (i hope), for anyone who wants to know how this ends, lance getting the good treatment he deserves from the people he loves, now with the complete plot outline in the last chapter, or at least my best attempt at one, shiro being an absolute hilarious shithead of an older brother, supportive friendships, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2019-08-06 16:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16390886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redsuns/pseuds/ctrlaltdeletion
Summary: Keith is back. The Castle of Lions is gone. Shiro is alive. They’re going home.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> good morning hustlers let's fix this voltron
> 
> season 7 did everyone dirty and my 11 year-old brother could do better. i may not be my 11 year-old brother but i will do my best. the chapter count up there is tentative! i've outlined 10 chapters but i might break some things up into more. this chapter took 3 weeks bc i am slow and have an education to prioritize, so while the next chapter /is/ being written rn, i don't know when it'll be done. i think that's all i have to say rn? 
> 
> OH i'm almost 100% the timeline i'm using for this is a little different from canon so here's what i'm working with: at the start of the show (one year after the kerberos mission's launch and subsequent failure) pidge is 14, lance + hunk + keith are 17, and shiro (and adam) is 25. sam holt comes back to earth a year after the paladins go into space. at the time of voltron's disappearance at the end of s6, two years have passed since the paladins went into space, which makes pidge 16, lance and hunk 19, shiro 27, and keith 21 because of the two additional years he experienced in the quantum abyss. as of the post-s6 time skip their ages are the same, but lance + hunk + pidge have experienced two years in space, shiro has experienced three (the +1 comes from the kerberos mission+imprisonment by the galra), and keith has experienced four (his +2 comes from the two years in the quantum abyss), while earth has experienced five years since the paladins went into space. i hope to god this makes sense bc doing even this amount of math made my head hurt. 
> 
> rated t for language and (in future chapters) canon-typical violence; if there's any other warnings in specific chapters i'll put them in the notes at the beginning! 
> 
> title from far beyond by dexter french, which was the song in the s7 trailer 
> 
> let's get this mf bread

Shiro lies in a healing pod in the Black Lion. He’s too still, Keith thinks, the only sign of life the steady rise and fall of his chest, the beeping of the pod keeping track of his heart rate. The healing pods in the Lions aren’t as effective as the ones on the castle-ship, Allura had told them. They’re meant for small injuries or temporary stasis. Not for the aftermath of a consciousness transfer. 

Allura stands right behind the head of the pod, hands placed on the surface, framing Shiro’s face. Her eyes are closed and there’s sweat beginning to drip down her temples. She’s been standing like this for the past few hours, trying to monitor and control the transfer. “We don’t know if his quintessence will take to the clone’s body,” she’d said. “I can help balance it out with my own, since my quintessence is familiar to both Shiro and to the clone.” Keith doesn’t actually understand how that works, but it’s keeping his brother alive for now and that’ll have to be enough.

He feels useless and restless standing around in the Black Lion’s cargo hold. He steps outside, telling himself the fresh air will be good for him, that Allura’s in there with Shiro, nothing bad is going to happen. Coran, Hunk, Pidge, and Romelle are huddled together around one of the Green Lion’s paws, murmuring among themselves and poking at a hologram. Lance stands at the Black Lion’s feet. He looks up when Keith walks out, watching him walk down the ramp. 

“How’s—?” he gestures to the inside of the Lion. 

Keith pushes out a slow breath. “I don’t know. Allura’s still in there trying to stabilize the transfer, but I have no idea if it’s working or how well it’s going.” He looks down at his feet, reaching up and tugging at his own hair. “I kind of hate this.” 

A hand closes gently around his wrist, pulling his hand away from his hair. “Hey,” Lance says softly, “it’s gonna be fine. Shiro’s strong. With Allura helping him, there’s no way he won’t pull through.” Keith closes his eyes, nodding slowly. There’s a part of him that doesn’t quite believe Lance’s words, but a bigger part of him knows he needs to so he doesn’t make himself sick with worry. Lance tugs at his wrist again. “Your mom took your dog for a walk a bit ago. Do you wanna go look for them?”

Keith nods again. Lance leads the way past the Lions, into the forest at the edge of the clearing where they’ve landed. He keeps up a steady stream of chatter once they’re past the treeline, filling the silence around them and distracting Keith from the weight in his chest. 

“Your mom said there was a river here somewhere. She said she’d take your dog there so he could, like, splash around for a while. She thinks he’s filthy, by the way. You should, like, give him baths more often.”

He comments on the wilderness around them, too. “You ever think it’s kinda weird how most of the planets we’ve been to have, like, not exactly similar, that’s not the right word, but. I don’t know, comparable? Wildlife to Earth? Like you can look at a plant or an animal and reasonably compare it something we’ve got back home. Except in some places. Or, maybe there’s lots of other planets that have, like, super weird wildlife but we’ve just never been?”

Lance’s hand stays wrapped around Keith’s wrist. Keith’s grateful for it, for the sound of Lance’s voice drowning out his thoughts, the reminder that Lance is there, that Keith is not alone. 

“Hey!” Lance perks up. “I hear running water! We must be getting close, huh?”

Keith looks up. He can hear it, too. If he squints through the trees, he can see light glinting off of what must be the river. Lance picks up the pace, weaving through tree trunks and stepping over roots, sometimes reaching out with his free hand to run his fingertips along the bark. He leads them out into a clearing, smaller than the one they parked the Lions in. The river runs past, sparkling and blue. Krolia stands on the riverbank, hands on her hips, keeping an eye on the space wolf splashing around near the shallows. 

“Hey!” Lance calls out, waving and dropping Keith’s wrist. Krolia turns around and smiles at the sight of them. Keith feels himself smile, too, finally. Beside him, Lance grins and walks up to the riverbank, sitting down next to Krolia and taking his boots off before letting his feet dangle in the water. Keith goes over to stand on his mother’s other side. She lays a hand on his shoulder.

“Seeing you two here is a surprise,” Krolia says. “Is everything okay?”

Lance shrugs and answers for both of them. “Yeah. Just thought we’d get some fresh air, get away from some of the tension, you know?”

Krolia nods. “How’s Shiro doing?”

Another shrug from Lance. “He’s… hanging in there, I guess. Which is the best we can hope for at this point. He’ll be okay, though. He’s strong, he’ll pull through.” Lance says that last part with conviction, like he’s the one who spent two years looking into the future and not Keith. Keith appreciates it, Lance’s steadfast optimism. It makes it feel like everything is going to be okay. 

They stay on the riverbank, the three of them, watching the space wolf splash around and enjoy himself in the water. Krolia lowers herself to sit next to Lance, legs crossed. Keith sits down too, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, feet crossed at the ankle. He rests his chin on his knees and focuses on his breathing. He’s not sure how long they sit there. His eyes close at some point; he might’ve fallen asleep. He looks up when Krolia stands. 

“We should head back,” she says. “I don’t think we have much daylight left.”

Keith nods and whistles for the wolf as he stands and offers Lance a hand up. The wolf teleports next to them on the riverbank, shaking his fur dry. Lance yelps as drops of water spray everywhere. “Easy, boy!” he says, reaching out to pat the wolf’s head. 

Krolia leads the way back, the wolf trotting next to her. Keith and Lance follow, walking side by side. Lance hums a tune under his breath. It’s nice. 

The first thing Keith sees when they get back to the Lions is Allura sitting on the ground, leaning against one of Black’s paws. He moves without thinking, walking past his mother and Lance and crouching in front of her. Her eyes are closed, but they open when Keith reaches out to touch her arm. “Shiro?” he asks softly, not wanting to say anything more.

“He’s stabilized for now,” Allura says, “but he’s still weak, and barely hanging on. The pod’s keeping him in stasis for the time being. He’s alive, and hopefully he’ll stay that way, but I have no idea when he’ll wake up. I’m sorry, Keith, I wish I could do more.”

“No,” he says quietly, “you did really great, Allura. I— thank you. Thank you so much.” She smiles at him, covering his hand on her arm with one of her own and squeezing gently. Keith moves back and reaches a hand out. She grabs it and pulls herself to her feet, looking towards the rest of the group. 

“We do still have to start making our way back to Earth,” she says, addressing all of them. “As much as I’m sure we all would like to wait for Shiro to wake up first, we don’t know how much time we have. We can take the trip a little slow if we have to, but I don’t think we can afford to stay idle much longer.” She stops and looks at Keith. “Keith? You’re the Black Lion’s paladin. Your opinion matters here, too.”

Keith opens his mouth, then pauses. “You’re right,” he says after a moment. “We probably can’t afford to wait around. We’ll make stops to rest on the way back, but we’ll try not to linger too much. Shiro’s pod is already in the Black Lion’s cargo hold, so he’ll stay with me and Mom at least until he wakes up.” He looks around at the loose circle they’ve made. “Everyone agree with that?” He’s met with nods all around. Lance gives him a thumbs up. Keith kind of doesn’t get it, he just repeated what Allura said in different words? But she’s nodding at him encouragingly, too. 

“We’ve plotted out a course to Earth,” Romelle says, stepping forward. She brings up the hologram part of the group was crowded around earlier. “This is a fairly stripped down version of our map, but we’ve highlighted a route here,” she points, “that will take us past planets with non-hostile populations, where we can rest without making any significant detours. Not all of them are part of the Voltron Coalition, but none of them are occupied by Galra factions.” 

Krolia leans closer. “Do you mind?” she asks, gesturing towards the hologram projector in Romelle’s hands. Romelle hands it over. Krolia hums, zooming in on some of the highlighted planets. “There are a few Blade of Marmora bases along this route, too. I think it’s safe to say Keith and I are no longer active agents, given the amount of time we’ve been gone without contacting them, but I’d still like to check in when we’re in the area.” She looks up, eyes flicking to Allura, then to Keith, then back. “If that’s alright?”

Keith looks at Allura. She nods slightly, so he says, “Sure, why not? We’ll— we’ll rest for the night and leave in the morning, how’s that sound?”

Noises of agreement are made all around the group. Keith nods and turns to go back to the Black Lion. Krolia follows him. She doesn’t comment when he takes his sleeping bag down to the cargo hold. 

— 

In the first instant after waking up, Lance isn’t quite sure where he is. He’s not in his bed on the castle-ship, he’s on the ground somewhere in a sleeping bag. He’s reaching for his bayard when Red’s comforting presence floods his mind and it all comes back to him. Keith is back. The Castle of Lions is gone. Shiro is alive. They’re going home. 

He gives himself a few moments to lie there and breathe, to take it all in all over again. Only a few moments. Then he gets up. 

The suns on this planet have barely started rising. No one else is awake right now. Lance could probably squeeze in a couple more hours of sleep if he wanted to; he doesn’t think even Keith would try to get everyone up this early. But it’s kind of peaceful out here and besides, Lance doesn’t think he could go back to sleep now. He’s tempted to go back to the river from yesterday, but it’s probably not a good idea to go too far from their little camp and he doesn’t want to wake someone up to tell them where he’s going. He climbs up Red instead, sitting down on the end of her muzzle with his legs dangling off the edge. It still gets to him sometimes, how much smaller he is than her or Blue. How much smaller he is than the rest of the universe. 

Marco used to say that Lance was the type of person to get lost in his own head. “It’s not a bad thing,” he’d say when Lance started pouting. “Just means we gotta pull you out of there sometimes, alright?” 

He sits there, staring at the sky until the suns rise above the treetops. He listens to the wildlife in the forest around them wake up. There’s something in the trees that whistles the way birds chirp in the morning. It sounds nice. Lance closes his eyes to listen to it, tips his head back and feels the sunlight warm him and his Lion. 

“Hey.” He looks down. Krolia’s standing at Red’s feet, craning her head up to look at him. Keith’s wolf-dog sits next to her. “Sorry to bother you,” she says, hands cupped around her mouth, “but would you mind waking Keith up? I need to go get us some breakfast.”

Lance nods, holding on as Red lowers her head to drop him gently onto the ground. “Sure. Uh, is he...?” Lance trails off, gesturing towards the Black Lion.

“In the cargo hold,” Krolia confirms. She puts a hand on Lance’s shoulder, squeezing gently. “Thank you, Lance.” 

Lance smiles up at her. “It’s no problem.” Krolia nods at him before leaving, wolf-dog trailing behind her. 

The Black Lion must sense him coming, because she lowers her head and opens her mouth so Lance can walk in. The last time he was in here, he’d headed for the cockpit to see if she’d accept him as her pilot. He doesn’t think about that. This time, he heads down to her cargo hold. 

Keith’s curled up on the ground next to Shiro’s healing pod. It looks like he’d kicked his sleeping bag off at some point during the night. He’s gripping his pillow like a teddy bear. Lance crouches next to him, unsure how exactly he should go about doing this. He reaches out, hand hovering over Keith’s shoulder for a moment before gently shaking it. “Keith,” he says softly. “Hey, wake up.”

Keith mumbles in his sleep and shifts around a little before opening his eyes. “Lance?” he says, voice slurred with sleep. “Huh?”

Lance smiles. “Hey, your mom said I should come wake you up?” Keith blinks slowly and sits up, leaning unconsciously into the hand Lance still has on his shoulder. Lance sees and feels Keith’s shoulders sag when he looks at the healing pod where Shiro still lies. He follows Keith’s gaze, letting his eyes rest on Shiro’s face and thinking about how  _ wrong _ it looks that he’s so still, that he’s barely breathing. The pod still beeps steadily in time with Shiro’s heartbeat, but it’s too quiet and slow for Lance’s liking. 

Keith tears his gaze away first. “Let’s go.”

Lance follows him out of the Lion wordlessly. 

— 

Krolia isn’t quite sure what to make of the paladins or the Alteans. She recognizes them from the glimpses of the future she and Keith had seen on the back of the whale, but these people are… different, somehow, to the ones in her son’s future. Those people were older, of course, but there are other differences too, ones she can’t quite put her finger on. It’s in the way Keith keeps a deliberate space between himself and them when they sit down to eat. It’s in the way he speaks around them, a quiet uncertainty sometimes slipping into his voice. It’s in the peculiar distance between her son and the blue-armoured one, Lance, when she’d seen them fight side by side and back to back more times than she could count, five, ten years from now. In the future, there’s an easy trust between all of them, one that only comes and goes in the present (goes more often, if she’s honest with herself). 

Keith finishes his food quietly and get to his feet. “I’m going to check on Shiro and make sure Black’s flight-ready. We’ll leave when everyone’s done eating.” He waits until everyone nods before turning away. Krolia notes the slight hunch of his shoulders when he walks, the way his head hangs just a little. Beside her, Romelle turns to watch him go, too, before asking quietly, “Is he okay?”

Krolia murmurs back, “I… don’t know. I don’t think so.”

She looks up and meets Lance’s eyes, watching their exchange from across their little circle with his eyebrows furrowed. She tries to give him a reassuring smile. Tentatively, he smiles back. 

One by one, their group disperses to their Lions. Romelle, Coran, and the Altean mice go with Allura in the Blue Lion, Lance takes Kaltenecker in the Red Lion’s cargo hold, and Krolia and the wolf stay with Keith in the Black Lion. 

Keith is quiet as he flies, only speaking once to tell Pidge to navigate. His face is drawn and pensive. Krolia’s never seen him like this, even after visions on the whale. In all honesty, she’s not sure what to do. But this is her son, so she has to do  _ something, _ even if it doesn’t work. 

She breaks the silence. “Are you… okay?” 

Keith glances over at her. “I’m fine.”

Krolia presses her lips together in a line. Beside her, the wolf raises its head in curiosity. “Please don’t lie to me, Keith. I want to help you but I don’t know how, so I  _ need _ you to tell me what’s wrong.” 

Keith goes still and doesn’t look at her for a few moments, before reaching over and flicking the Black Lion’s autopilot switch. He takes his hands off the controls and brings his feet up onto the pilot’s seat, hugging his knees to his chest. He looks smaller like this, younger. Krolia wonders if this was a habit of his as a kid, if this was one of the things she missed when she decided leaving would protect him. 

“I’m scared,” Keith says, barely a whisper. 

“You’re fighting in a war,” Krolia says, trying for reassurance. “It’s normal to be scared.”

“It’s not that.” He sighs, resting his chin on his knees. “I— I’m scared that Shiro won’t wake up.” Krolia opens her mouth to answer, but he cuts her off before she starts. “I know, I  _ know _ Allura said he would be fine and that the healing pod would keep him going but I just— I’ve lost my big brother so many times already. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose him again. I don’t know how to be a leader, he does. I can’t keep a team together without him. But it’s not just the team. It’s— I just— he’s my  _ brother, _ maybe not by blood but in every way that matters to me. I don’t want to lose him. I don’t know what to do.” 

Krolia takes in a deep breath, holds it for a moment before letting it out. “I didn’t have any siblings growing up,” she says slowly. “Didn’t have much of a family at all. Your father didn’t have siblings either, but he had parents and aunts and uncles and cousins. I never met them. I don’t know what it’s like to lose someone like that. But I know what you’ve told me about Shiro, and I know what I’ve seen of him. He’ll wake up.”

“But what if he doesn’t?”

Krolia’s brow furrows. “He was there, Keith. You and I both saw him. He survives, he grows old. You remember?” Her voice softens, a smile creeping across her face. “You’re the best man at his wedding.”

“What if it’s not real?” Keith whispers. “I want it to be true and I want all those things to happen but what if— what if something changes. Something in between all those things changes the future, and now Shiro dies and there’s nothing I can do about it. What if?” The wolf gets up from Krolia’s side and pads over to where Keith’s sitting, pushing his muzzle against Keith’s arm. One of Keith’s hands settles on the top of the wolf’s head, fingers tangling in his fur. 

“Your friends won’t let that happen.” Krolia’s voice is quiet, but firm. “You won’t let that happen. I won’t let that happen. Shiro himself won’t let that happen. Keith, I know it seems hard to believe right now, but things are going to be okay. Trust your friends. They care about Shiro, too.”

Keith sighs and doesn’t answer, unfolding himself from the pilot’s chair and reaching out to turn off autopilot. They spend the rest of the flight in silence.

— 

The first planet they land on is supposed to be deserted, more or less, just a chunk of rock floating in space. Allura double checks the air quality before letting Coran or Romelle leave the Blue Lion. It’s breathable, she notes, if a little dry. The mice run to perch on Romelle’s shoulders, sticking their little noses in the air too. Romelle giggles. Allura’s breath catches. 

They’ve landed the Lions in a tight circle. The whole purpose of this stop is just to have a chance to rest for the night and to eat and check up on Shiro before continuing on their journey. Allura doesn’t know about the others, really, but she doesn’t intend to leave the little protective circle the Lions make. She’s been feeling unsettled ever since the fight with Lotor. Something feels off, something she can’t quite pinpoint, but it makes her want to stay near the rest of the paladins and their companions. It feels like she needs to keep an eye on them, not because they feel untrustworthy but because it feels as though they need to be protected. 

Lance is the only other person out of his Lion. Allura smiles gently when their eyes meet. He returns it with a tight smile of his own, turning his attention to carrying out a bag of food for Kaltenecker. The creature moos at Allura. She smiles and nods back, dipping her head low. She hears Lance huff out a laugh, but when she looks over, he’s looking away. 

The rest of their group trickles out of the lions slowly. Keith leaves his Lion last, a while after Kroila does. He’s quiet, looking at the ground with his shoulders slumped. It’s not hard to guess why. 

Krolia takes charge of handing out food rations from the Lions’ supplies. Everyone sits down in a close circle to eat, a fast-forming habit at this point. Allura likes the feeling of safety it brings. Like this, she can easily scan the circle and check on all her teammates, save for Shiro. Romelle sits beside her on one side, Coran on the other. Keith and Krolia are on Romelle’s other side, the wolf they brought back with them laying down at Romelle’s feet. On Coran’s other side is Lance, who is picking at his own rations and glancing over at Kaltenecker every so often to make sure she’s eating. The mice are perched comfortably on Kaltenecker’s back, little bodies rising and falling with their quiet snores. Across the circle are Hunk and Pidge, heads leaning together as they talk through something in whispered voices. Allura catches snatches of technical terms and jargon. Without context, she doesn’t understand any of it. 

Allura’s the first one done eating. The wolf notices and wanders over to her, laying across her legs and looking up expectantly. She laughs softly and reaches out to scratch behind his ears. He closes his eyes and lets out a low rumble of contentment. Keith looks up at the noise, eyes softening when he sees the wolf soaking up Allura’s attention. She shoots him a smile, too. He smiles back, but it’s small and tired. Allura feels a pang of guilt. If she’d been able to wake Shiro up, Keith probably wouldn’t be feeling so worried. 

The wolf raises his muzzle and nudges her arm, shaking her out of her melancholy thoughts. “I’m sorry,” she coos quietly. “I’ll pay attention to you, I promise.”

“Here, he likes being scratched under his chin.” Allura jumps a little at the sound of Romelle’s voice, quiet as it is. The other Altean scoots up so they’re both sitting side by side, and reaches out to demonstrate. She’s right, if the way the wolf’s happy growls get louder is any indication. 

“He’s really taken a liking to you,” Krolia says gently. Allura looks up and sees she’s addressing Romelle. 

Romelle shrugs. “I just copy what Keith does. He’s the wolf’s favourite.” She lowers her head so she’s at eye-level with the wolf and coos, “Isn’t that right, boy?”

Allura hears Keith laugh quietly. It feels like a relief to hear him express something that isn’t worry or exhaustion. “I don’t sound like that,” he says, amused. 

“No, you definitely do,” Krolia says. Keith looks at her with wide eyes, betrayed. The expression looks comical on him and a loud laugh escapes Allura before she can stop it. 

“Matt used to make fun of me for talking to Rover like that, too,” Pidge says. She reaches over to nudge Keith’s leg with her foot. “Solidarity.” 

“Rover?” Allura asks. She remembers the little Galra robot Pidge had reprogrammed, but she doesn’t think Matt had ever seen it.

“My dog. He’s back on Earth. Mom said he started sleeping on my bed when I left for the Garrison because he missed me.” Pidge sighs. “He’s the best dog ever.”

Keith visibly bristles. “My dog is a  _ wolf _ from  _ space,” _ he says. Everyone’s eyes turn to him, shocked. He clears his throat and schools his face into neutral expression, cheeks turning red. “I mean. It’s not a competition. I’m sure Rover is a great dog, Pidge.”

“Nope,” Hunk pipes up, “it’s a competition now. My moms have  _ three _ cats, and they’re the sweetest animals ever.”

“Hello?” Lance chimes in. “Kaltenecker is  _ right here. _ Look at her, she’s letting the mice sleep on her back. What’s sweeter than that?”

“I think the mice are the best,” Allura says tentatively, wanting to join in on this conversation. “No offense,” she says to the wolf still lying across her lap, patting his muzzle. He opens one eye at her before flicking an ear and settling down again. 

“I agree with Allura,” Coran says. “There’s no doubt that your wolf is a fascinating creature, Keith, and Lance, I think Kaltenecker makes the best milkshakes in the universe. But you see,” and here he leans in towards the circle, twirling his moustache around a finger comically, “these mice are  _ special. _ They share a psychic bond with the princess.” Allura sees Lance’s posture stiffen out of the corner of her eye.

“Keith’s wolf can teleport,” Krolia adds conversationally. She smiles at the resulting noises of outrage from the rest of the paladins. Allura watches quietly as Hunk and Pidge leap to their feet demanding to know why they weren’t told about the wolf’s cool powers. Lance laughs. Coran peers closely at the wolf, tentatively reaching out and placing a hand on his head. 

Romelle giggles behind her hand, and all of Allura’s senses tune in to it. She ducks her head slightly when she laughs, nose scrunching up just a little bit. It may very well be the cutest thing Allura’s ever seen. 

“Y’know,” Hunk says once everyone’s settled down again, “I always wanted a dog. We couldn’t get one, though, my little sister’s allergic.”

“We almost got around to getting one,” Lance says, “but then my niece and nephew were born, and Luis doesn’t want big animals around the kids until they’re older.”

“You have a niece and nephew?” Allura knows Lance has a big family, but she’s never known the specifics of any of the paladins’ lives before they came into space.

Lance brightens up. “Yeah! They’re my oldest brother’s kids. Sylvio’s seven, and Nadia just turned five before I left.” The smile drops off his face. “They’re probably older now, though. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them.”

“I’ve become quite curious about human family units.” Coran leans in. “You’ve got quite a big family, haven’t you? Is that the norm on Earth?”

“Uh,” Lance glances over at the rest of the paladins for help. “Depends, I guess. There’s different… types of family units on Earth? My family’s really big, and really close-knit, so a lot of us live together. Me and my big sister moved out to go to the Garrison, but my other sister and both of my brothers still live with our parents. Um, and Luis’ wife and kids live with us, too. And my grandparents.”

“Hm.” Coran appears to process this information for a few ticks. “Was the Garrison very far from your home?” 

Lance shrugs. “Yeah. I grew up in Cuba, which is this little island like,” he looks around quickly before picking up a fist-sized pointed rock from the ground and making a little shape in the dirt, “that. But the Garrison’s on the US mainland, further in.” He draws a larger shape, then marks a dot away from the edge, closer to the middle. The wolf raises his head, watching the rock move as Lance draws in the dirt. 

“Was it very different?” Coran asks. 

Lance nods slowly. “Yeah, it was. I mean, I was used to being surrounded by family all the time, but I made friends with Hunk pretty quick,” he looks up and shoots Hunk a smile, “and Veronica was there whenever I missed our family, but more than that… the Garrison’s so far inland and it’s, like, surrounded by desert for miles. I grew up near the water, you know? The desert is… it’s completely different from the beach. It took a long time to get used to.”

“Desert’s not so bad,” Keith mumbles quietly. Lance looks over at him, surprised. Allura looks, too, sees Keith staring down at the ground contemplatively. “Me and my dad used to live out there, a little bit outside the city. And then after— after he died and Shiro and Adam took me in, Shiro used to take me out there on the hoverbikes.” 

“I didn’t know you lost your father,” Allura says. There’s a pang in her chest, her own loss still feeling fresh despite the two decaphoebs or so it’s been for her. “I— I’m sorry.”

Keith gives her a soft, sad smile. It feels like he knows she’s thinking of her own father, too. “It’s alright. I was young when it happened. I’ve— well, I don’t know if you can get over something like that, but. I still have a family, so. I’m okay, I guess.” Krolia puts her hand on his shoulder. 

“Who’s Adam?” Romelle asks. She tilts her head as she does. 

Keith casts a glance at the Black Lion before speaking. “Shiro’s fiancé. Well, he’s Shiro’s ex now, I guess. They were still dating when they adopted me.” A small smile creeps across his face. This one is genuine, not a hint of sadness to be found. “I helped Adam propose.”

“They broke it off before Shiro left for Kerberos, didn’t they?” Hunk stares at the ground. “There were rumours about it at the Garrison after—” He cuts himself off. 

“Yeah,” Keith says quietly. “It was kinda messy, to say the least. But Adam still took care of me after I got myself kicked out of the Garrison.” He looks up. “Remember my little shack in the desert? He used to come by every weekend and make sure I had enough food and supplies. Sometimes he’d even help me with trying to find the Blue Lion.” 

“Shack in the desert?” Krolia asks. 

“Dad’s old place. The— where you crashed. I grabbed all my stuff from the Garrison and took it out there on one of the hoverbikes.” 

Pidge’s brow furrows. “Hunk and Lance said you never lived in the dorms, though. It was a whole thing with Lance. Like, he was super pissed you thought you were better than everyone else or something.”

Hunk laughs. “Oh, yeah! Lance thought you hung out at Adam and Shiro’s so often because you were getting, like, extra help with your work or trying to convince them to raise your grades. He always had to try and convince himself you weren’t naturally that good.”

“Hey!” Allura thinks she hears a hint of actual hurt in Lance’s voice. “How was I supposed to know they  _ adopted _ him!” He leans back. “Actually, I’m kind of glad I didn’t. Imagine knowing Keith’s not only the best pilot in the whole Garrison, but he’s the kid of the two coolest guys there? What the fuck, dude.” That last part is directed at Keith, who’s smiling a little now. 

“Don’t call me their kid, Lance, that’s super weird. Shiro’s like my older brother.”

“Oh, that’s even worse,” Lance says. “I’ve got two of those and I’m  _ still _ kinda jealous.” He laughs lightly. Keith joins in.

Allura sees Romelle purse her lips in thought out of the corner of her eye. “Is everything alright?” she murmurs. Romelle startles and looks up. 

“Oh! Everything’s fine, it’s just—,” she glances over at everyone else, seeing their gazes shift towards her. “It’s… kind of embarrassing.” She ducks her head. 

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to!” Allura immediately tries to reassure her. Romelle shakes her head.

“No, no! It’s just,” she casts a glance at Keith, “Keith was talking about older brothers and Shiro, and I—,” she covers her face with her hand for a moment and takes a deep breath, then looks back up, “it just kind of feels like he— Keith, I mean, not Shiro— he’s like an older brother too?”

Keith’s brow furrows. Allura sees him mouth  _ me? _ to himself, blinking slowly as he connects the dots in his head. “You… see me as a big brother?”

Romelle groans and leans back until she’s lying flat against the ground, covering her face with her arms. “I  _ said _ it was embarrassing!” But there’s a grin on Keith’s face as he reaches out to nudge her in the ribs, making her shriek.

“Nah,” he says, “it’s cool. I’ve wondered what it would be like to have a little sibling.” Allura wonders at how relaxed Keith seems at this idea, when he’s always seemed to shy away from closeness with the rest of the paladins. This, though, the idea that Romelle sees him as something like family, doesn’t seem to bother him at all. It seems rather like he wants to embrace it, to accept her as family, too. Allura, despite being puzzled by it, is glad. Family is something Romelle probably needs right now. Keith, too, even though he has his mother back in his life.

Krolia watches her son and Romelle, a fond expression on her face. It’s a little astonishing to Allura how someone working with the Blade of Marmora can manage to retain so much tenderness and compassion. “What was your family like?” she asks. She’d never considered before this moment that Krolia would’ve, at one point, been the same age as the paladins are now. She tries to imagine it, Krolia as a young adult, decaphoebs younger than she is now, but she finds that she can’t.

“I never had much of one,” Krolia says. “I barely knew my parents before I was taken away for Galra military training, and then I defected and joined the Blade. I— I have no idea where they are now.” 

“You have a family now,” Romelle says. “You have Keith.”

Krolia smiles at her. “I have you now too, I suppose.” Romelle ducks her head, hand coming up to hide her small grin. 

The sun on this planet is starting to get low. Allura notices and opens her mouth to mention it, but Pidge beats her to it with a yawn. She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly when everyone turns at the noise. “Sorry, I’m just getting kinda tired.”

“Pidge has the right idea,” Keith says. “It’s getting late, and we want to be able to leave pretty early tomorrow. Let’s all go to bed.” He glances at Allura after he’s done speaking. He’s been doing that a lot since he got back, like he’s looking for Allura’s approval every time he gives orders as their leader.

The group disperses to the Lions to sleep. Romelle hesitates for a moment before tapping Keith on the shoulder and quietly asking if she can stay with him and Krolia for the night. He nods, grinning. She waves at Allura over her shoulder before following them into the Black Lion.

— 

Keith is great. Krolia’s great, too, but Keith’s letting Romelle ask questions about Shiro even though he must be tired, because Romelle had a nightmare and needs to calm down before she tries to go back to sleep. 

She’d thought it would be embarrassing, admitting that she’d started to see him and his mother as family even in the short time they spent getting from the colony to the Castle of Lions. But Keith’s taken it in stride, immediately accepting when Romelle asked if she could sleep near him and his mom tonight. Krolia hadn’t said anything when Keith took his stuff down to the cargo hold, but Romelle had followed because she was curious, and Keith had let her stay and given her his pillow and sleeping bag so that she’d be more comfortable. And then, when she’d woken up from her nightmare, he’d sat beside her and let her lean against him and talk about it, and then distracted her with stories of Shiro and Adam and the Garrison and the desert. 

“—so Shiro tells everyone to adjust their heading a little bit, right? But I’m fourteen and there’s this boy in my class who’s just, he’s so annoying, I don’t think I have the words to describe how fucking annoying this guy is. And there’s this other boy, and he’s kind of cute, and I want to impress him a little, you know? So I did this little— like a loop?” He demonstrates it with a hand gesture. “And Iverson gets  _ so _ mad at me, you’d think I committed murder in his classroom. And he goes,” Keith deepens his voice, says gruffly, “‘Shirogane, get that kid of yours under control!’ And in the moment Shiro’s like ‘Yes, sir,’ all seriously, but then we get home after class and he high-fives me and tells Adam I’m allowed to have dessert before dinner today because I pissed off Iverson. I  _ pissed off his boss, _ and his reaction was to let me have sweets.” Keith shakes his head, a fond smile on his face. 

“Why do you have to have dinner before dessert?” Romelle asks, head drooping onto Keith’s shoulder. They’re sitting upright against Shiro’s healing pod. Like this, Romelle can feel it pulse a little in time with Shiro’s heartbeat. She thinks that’s why Keith chose to sit against it. 

Keith purses his lips, considering. “I… don’t know, actually. Adam said it was because sugary things are too filling, so you have to have an actual meal before you eat them, but Adam doesn’t actually know anything about science so I have no idea if that was true or not.” 

Romelle hums. “What about the boy?”

“Which one?”

“The cute one. Was he impressed?”

“I don’t know that either. I hope he was.” Keith’s face softens, a light blush dusting his cheeks. Romelle sits up straight.

“Did you  _ like  _ him?” she asks. “Did— what was the word— did you have a crush on him?”

Keith groans and slides down against the pod until he’s almost lying down. “Noooo,” he says, covering his face. “Don’t ask me that, please.”

Romelle reaches over and tugs one hand off his face. “So you had a crush on him.”

“I’m not answering that.”

“Your lack of an answer is an answer in and of itself.”

“I wonder how Shiro used to put up with me being like this.”

“He must have the patience of a saint,” Romelle says, nodding sagely. Keith glares at her, but he’s smiling. 

“You know what he used to tell me all the time?” He tries to imitate Shiro’s voice. “‘Remember, Keith, patience yields focus.’ Just, all the time. I hear it in my head every time something even inconveniences me now.” Romelle laughs. “No, really! I’ll be trying to open one of those ration packets, you know how they have the thing? At the top? And it’s impossible to rip it off cleanly?”

“Krolia manages to do it,” Romelle says, through giggles.

Keith waves a hand, shaking his head. “Krolia manages to do anything. But, yeah, I’ll be trying to rip it open and it won’t work and then I’ll just hear Shiro’s voice in the back of my head going ‘Patience yields focus.’ And I’m like, what the fuck?”

There are practically tears of mirth coming out of Romelle’s eyes at this point. She wipes at her face, trying to get her laughter under control. It takes a while; every time she manages to stop, Keith with snort or laugh quietly and it’ll set her off again. She slides down to lie down next to Keith. He’s got his eyes closed now, but she can tell he’s not asleep yet. 

“So…” Romelle says. “You have had… crushes… on people.”

Keith hums, eyes still closed. “Just boys.”

“But,” Romelle pauses and tries to think of how to word this question. “Even if you only have crushes on boys… if someone had a crush on a girl… do you think that person would feel the same way you feel about those boys, but about that girl?”

Keith’s nose scrunches up as he tries to figure out her question. “Are you asking me if crushes feel the same for different people?”

Romelle nods, then remembers Keith’s eyes are still closed and says, “Yes, that is what I’m asking.”

“Hm.” He takes a moment to think. “I’m not sure. Some people feel different things for their crushes. So, I guess it would depend how that person feels about this girl, and— and how they feel about those feelings?” He opens his eyes. “Man, I’m really bad at love advice.” He glances at Romelle out of the corner of his eye. “Is this… about anybody? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Romelle very determinedly does not meet his eyes. “You have to promise you won’t tell anyone,” she says, and only continues when he does. “Okay. Okay. Um. What do you think of Allura?”

Keith’s voice is carefully even when he replies. “She’s nice. And she’s pretty.”

Romelle covers her face. “She is, isn’t she?”

“Do you like her?” Keith asks softly. 

Romelle lets out a frustrated noise. “That’s the thing! I don’t know if I  _ like _ her or if I just want to be her friend because she’s also Altean, and because she’s pretty and strong and smart.”

“Do you normally want to make friends with people just because they’re Altean and pretty and strong and smart?” Romelle’s pretty sure Keith’s fighting off a smile. 

“Oh, shut it,” she says, sitting up so she can glare down at him. “You’re not helping this situation.”

“I don’t know, Romelle,” Keith says, and now he’s stopped holding back his shit-eating grin, “sounds to me like you’ve got a crush on the princess.”

Romelle makes a strangled noise. “Help me! Don’t make fun of me! You’re terrible!”

“I’m not making fun of you!” It would be more convincing if Keith wasn’t laughing again. “I support you, I think it’s cute.” 

“Ugh,” Romelle groans. “Fine. That’s good enough, I suppose.”

— 

The next morning finds Keith and Romelle curled up next to the healing pod. Lance doesn’t come to wake him up today. Keith squishes down the weird disappointment he feels at that. He nudges Romelle gently, whispering at her to wake up. She grumbles at him before opening her eyes. 

“Is it time to go already?”

“Yeah.” Keith stands and reaches out to pull her to her feet. A thought occurs to him and he grins at Romelle slyly, bumping her shoulder with his own. “You gonna ride with the princess?”

Romelle shoves him. “ _ Keith! _ Shut up! I was going to ask if I could ride with you and Krolia, but I guess I’ve changed my mind.” She turns away with a little  _ hmph! _ and crosses her arms, nose in the air. 

Keith laughs and gently pushes her towards the Lion’s open mouth. “We’ll ask if Mom’s okay with it.”

They’re the last ones to leave the Lions, laughing and shoving each other playfully as they walk down the Black Lion’s ramp. Keith hasn’t felt this calm since— since before the Kuron thing, actually. Maybe since before the Kerberos mission. Idly, he wonders what Shiro will think of Romelle, what he’ll think of Keith trying to fill his shoes for both the team and for her. 

Keith catches Allura staring at them out of the corner of his eye and waits until she’s looked away before he nudges Romelle in the side, tilting his head towards Allura in a silent question. Romelle narrows her eyes at him and marches up to Krolia, asking if she’s alright with Romelle riding in the Black Lion. 

“Of course,” Krolia says, smiling down at her. She looks up at Keith. “I was actually thinking of riding in the Red Lion with Lance for this trip.”

It’s Keith’s turn to narrow his eyes. His mother had better not be doing what he thinks she’s doing. She catches his gaze and shakes her head ever so slightly, smile playing around her mouth. He widens his eyes at her before Romelle tugs at his arm, back in the direction of the Black Lion. 

“Let go,” Keith hisses under his breath. “I need to make sure she doesn’t say anything to him!” 

“Why?” Romelle hisses back, still dragging him towards the Black Lion. Keith digs his heels in, trying to get her to stop, but all it does is slow her down a little. Half-Galra genes don’t measure up against a full-blooded Altean, apparently. 

“Because!” Keith tries to shake her off again. It doesn’t do much, but she lets go of his arm. Keith spins around on his heel just in time to see Krolia walking up the Red Lion’s ramp, the wolf following her with his tail wagging. “Shit.”

“Too late,” Romelle says. “Come on, now, let’s  _ go!” _

Keith grumbles all the way into the pilot’s seat, and then he grumbles some more. Romelle rolls her eyes at him, holding on to the back of the chair as Keith pilots his Lion into the sky. 

Once they’re out of the planet’s orbit, she leans forward, folding her arms on the back of the chair and propping her chin on them. “So,” she says, “why don’t you want Krolia to say anything to Lance?”

Keith glances over to make sure his comm is off before turning his head just enough to see Romelle out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t have to answer this question,” he says.

“Uh, yes, you do?” Keith shakes his head. “Come  _ on, _ Keith! I told you about Allura! That was a big secret!”

Keith lets out a long, drawn out groan. Romelle reaches around the seat and starts poking at his side, trying to get him to answer. Keith lets it happen for all of five seconds before giving in. “Fine, I’ll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone.” He turns to look Romelle in the eyes fully. “I mean it.”

Romelle nods. “I promise,” she says, eyes wide and excited.

Keith turns back to the Black Lion’s controls. “Alright.” He takes a deep breath. “You know how me and my mom were in the Quantum Abyss for two years?” Romelle makes a noise of affirmation from behind him. “Well. It turns out time and space start behaving really weirdly in there. We would see… visions, I guess you could call them. Of our pasts. And our futures. Sometimes it would be just my mom’s past, or just mine. But a lot of our futures seem to be together. Which is pretty nice, actually, but anyway.” Keith checks his comm again to make sure it’s off. “There was— my future— I saw some unexpected things.” He falls silent.

“Like?” Romelle prompts after a moment.

“Don’t tell anyone this,” he says again. “I saw— I saw Lance. And me. And it looked— it looked like we were… together.”

“Together? As in…?” Romelle trails off. 

“Yeah.” 

Romelle hums, thinking. “And is this a bad thing?”

Keith shrugs. “Like I said, it was unexpected. But, I mean, I have no idea how Lance feels about it, or how he would feel about it in the future, but. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s a bad thing.” He ducks his head a little, feeling his cheeks warm up. Romelle leans forward, observing him keenly. 

“Do you like him?”

Keith’s head snaps up. “What?” Romelle raises her eyebrows at him and doesn’t repeat herself. Keith makes a frustrated noise. “Do we have to do this?”

“So you  _ do _ like him.”

Keith feels the urge to bury his face in his hands and slide off the pilot’s chair and onto the floor. He doesn’t. He just makes a quiet noise of affirmation in his throat. 

Romelle moves to sit cross-legged next to his seat, looking up at him. “What did you see?”

Keith feels heat crawling up his neck. “I— um. Ugh. It’s embarrassing.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you really, really don’t want to,” Romelle says. “But sometimes it’s nice to know that someone else knows, and that they’re going to keep your secret.” 

“Ugh. It was— just— sometimes it was little things. There was one that was just us together in someone’s house, in the kitchen, and he was cooking something and I was just watching him, you know? But then he turned around and saw me and just— his face. And then he kissed me? And I saw— I saw rings on our hands and it was just. It was a lot.”

“Rings?”

“Oh, um. A lot of cultures on Earth use them to symbolize, uh, commitment, I guess.”

“Oh.” 

“Yeah. But, I mean, there were other things, too.” It feels like he can’t stop talking once he’s started, memories spilling out one after another. Romelle was right. It does feel nice to be able to tell someone else about this. “There was one. At— Shiro was getting married, and I was supposed to be his best man. Um, that’s like someone close to you who gives a speech and stuff and helps with wedding things. I think. But, yeah, I was the best man and I was— really nervous about the speech, I guess. And Lance came in and saw me and he just. He came over and calmed me down and it was so— I mean. Ugh. He was so  _ gentle _ and  _ kind _ and  _ sweet _ about it. And he was wearing this suit and he looked so beautiful. Just so, so beautiful. You know how you sometimes just stop talking when you see Allura, because you feel like you can’t focus on anything else? That’s how I felt, looking at him.” 

“Wow,” Romelle says quietly. “You’re more far gone than I am.”

Keith barks out a laugh. “To be fair, I’ve known Lance a lot longer than you’ve known Allura.”

“How long?”

Keith looks up at the ceiling for a moment, mentally calculating. “Since our first year at the Garrison, so… seven years. Five for him, since I spent two years in the Abyss.” 

“That’s… a very long time.” Romelle straightens up abruptly. “Was he the cute boy in your class? The one you wanted to impress with your flying.” 

“Yeah,” Keith says. 

“Oh, quizack. That’s a  _ very _ long time.”

“Quiznak,” Keith corrects automatically.

Romelle wrinkles her nose. “No one uses ‘quiznak’ anymore. That’s very old.”

“Really? Allura and Coran use it.”

“Allura and Coran were also in stasis for about ten thousand decaphoebs.” She has a point. Keith’s never considered the idea that Altean swears could change over time. As far as he’s concerned, the word ‘fuck’ has existed since the beginning of the universe. 

Keith opens his mouth to say something snarky back when a buzz starts up in the back of his head. His jaw snaps shut and he twitches, trying to pinpoint the source of it. 

“Keith?” Romelle says. “Are you all right?”

The Black Lion roars. Keith nearly shoots up out of his seat, realizing what she’s trying to tell him. “Romelle,” he says, grip tightening on the controls. “I can’t— I need to pilot the Black Lion. Can you go down to the cargo hold for me and check on Shiro?”

Romelle nods and takes off out of the cockpit. Keith opens up his comm. “Hey, guys,” he says tightly. Immediately, he’s bombarded with questions, the whole team wanting to know what got the Black Lion’s attention. “Guys! Listen to me. We need to land right now. Shiro’s waking up.”

Pidge is on it immediately, pulling up their route. “There’s a safe planet nearby, but it’ll take about a varga to get there. It’s inhabited, we might be able to ask the locals for help if we need it.”

Keith nods. “Alright. Lead the way, Pidge.” He falls back and lets Pidge take his spot at the front of their loose formation. He opens up a line to the cargo hold. “Romelle? We’re gonna land in about a varga, can you stay with Shiro until then?”

“Of course,” her voice comes through, clear and crisp. “He’s starting to regain consciousness. I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do right now besides monitor his vitals and hopefully be there for him when he wakes up.”

Keith lets a smile soften his face. “You’re already doing a lot for him. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Romelle says. 

Keith focuses on following Pidge’s lead for the next little while. There’s a small crowd waiting for them when they touch down. Keith ignores it, sprinting down to the Black Lion’s cargo hold. The first thing he sees is Shiro sitting on the ground, leaning upright against his now-open healing pod. His eyes are screwed shut. Romelle’s crouched at his left side, one hand holding onto his and the other curled around his shoulders. She’s speaking quietly to Shiro, trying to keep him conscious. He slumps sideways towards her and she adjusts her grip, holding him up. She looks up as Keith moves forward and crouches by Shiro’s other side. He lays a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. 

“Hey,” he says softly. Shiro opens his eyes. 

“Keith?”

“That’s me. How’re you feeling, bud?” Distantly, Keith realizes he’s trying to channel Shiro while talking to Shiro, and if that isn’t a trip. 

“Like shit,” Shiro says dryly. That’s good. Humour means he’s coming back to himself.

Keith hears the cargo hold doors open behind him, cries of Shiro’s name reaching his ears. Lance’s voice is the loudest. He glances over to see Krolia following the Red Lion’s paladin. Her eyes flit over both him and Shiro in the way that means she’s checking for physical injury. 

“How is he?” she asks Keith. 

Romelle answers, speaking quickly. “He started waking up a while ago but only regained consciousness fully when we started landing. He’s not strong enough to walk on his own yet, I assume that’s at least partially because he hasn’t eaten in a while. We should probably also make sure he receives proper hydration soon. His balance seems to be off, but that’s to be expected on account of both the extended period of unconsciousness and the fact that he’s likely not used to maneuvering with only one arm yet. He seems to have a bit of a temperature as well. It’s not high enough to cause any significant concern yet, but we should keep an eye on it.” At Keith’s questioning glance, she adds, “I have rudimentary medical training. It was a subject that interested me on the colony.” 

Keith nods. “Thanks.” He turns back to Shiro. “Do you think you could stand if we helped you up?”

“I can try,” Shiro says, jaw set and brow furrowed. Keith looks over at Romelle and counts to three with her before wrapping his arm around Shiro’s middle and standing with him. Shiro sways. Romelle puts Shiro’s arm around her shoulders, wrapping one of hers around his middle like Keith. Between them, they manage to guide Shiro out the cargo hold and down the Black Lion’s ramp. They end up taking most of Shiro’s weight, but neither of them comment or complain. 

The crowd is still waiting outside for them, faces tipped back to stare at the Lions in awe. Keith doesn’t pay attention to them, focused on keeping Shiro upright and moving. He registers Allura stepping forward and asking for medical facilities for Shiro and spares a thought for how grateful he is to her for caring for his brother. One of the aliens leads the way. Allura follows, Keith and Shiro and Romelle close behind. They’re led into a building, down sterile white hallways and into what looks like a hospital room. Two more aliens come in and take Shiro from Keith and Romelle’s arms. Keith tightens his grip for half a second before letting go. 

“We can prepare rooms for you and your companions,” the first alien is saying to Allura. “But first, we would appreciate it if you agreed to meet with the Ruling Council. There is… a matter we would like to discuss with you.” 

Allura nods. “Keith, Romelle?” Romelle moves to Allura’s side, but Keith stays where he is. The alien tilts their head at him curiously. 

“Your friend will be well taken care of here,” they say. “You have nothing to fear.”

“You should go, Keith.” Shiro’s eyes are fixed on the alien. “That meeting sounds important.”

“No thanks,” Keith says icily. “That’s my brother you’ve got there,” he says to the alien, “and I don’t mean to insult you but I intend to stay with him until he’s discharged.”

“We need someone to act as the leader of Voltron,” Allura reminds him sternly. 

“You’re more of a leader than I am,” Keith says without missing a beat. He pulls up a chair next to the bed and sits down in it, crossing his arms. “I’m not leaving Shiro.”

From here, Keith can see the muscle in Allura’s jaw clench. He meets her fierce gaze, refusing to back down. He is not leaving his brother alone and weakened. Allura doesn’t look away as she says, “You may stay with Shiro for now. We will be discussing this at a later time.” She turns and follows the alien out of the room without looking back. Romelle gives him a concerned look. He shakes his head. She follows Allura out with an apologetic shrug. 

“Wow,” Shiro whistles lowly. “You really pissed her off.”

Keith presses his lips into a thin line. “Doesn’t matter.” He looks up as the two aliens from before enter the room again. They flit around Shiro’s bed, taking readings and asking questions about his current state. He answers what he can. One of them makes notes on a tablet. When they’re done, the two aliens step back and address both of them. 

“Shirogane’s body appears to be experiencing some kind of shock from the consciousness transfer. Transfers like this are not a very common procedure, so we’re afraid there is not much we can do to accelerate the healing process. He currently has a low-level fever, which we  _ can  _ help treat.” The one that’s speaking turns to face Keith directly. “Your relation to the patient?”

“I’m his brother.” The one with the tablet marks something down, then hands the tablet to Keith. 

“Here you can see a list of his current symptoms,” they say, pointing. “We would like to speak with the princess at the earliest convenience to understand any other effects the transfer of consciousness may have on Shirogane. We do encourage you and the other Paladins to spend time around him while he’s healing; the presence of familiar quintessences will help his own adjust to a new body. Do make sure he eats and drinks according to this schedule,” Keith’s eyes flick over it, taking it in and committing it to memory, “and please do not hesitate to ask us for assistance if you feel you need it.”

“Thank you,” Keith says, voice suddenly hoarse. 

“It is our honour to be able to assist the Paladins of Voltron.” Both aliens smile at him kindly. “It is good to have you back.”

They leave before Keith can ask what exactly they meant. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/criticaIhits) and [ tumblr ](https://demigodau.tumblr.com) (and tell me what u think! pls i thrive off of feedback and validation)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several conversations with Shiro, and one big shake-up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're back with chapter 2 babey! i've already started deviating a bit from the outline i made but it's still staying at about 10 chapters i think; the changes i made aren't like big plot things that need a lot of working around, they're more just smaller decisions here and there that i thought would make more sense than what i was already planning. anyways, pls enjoy n lmk what u think

“Good to have you back?” Keith says. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t know,” Shiro says. “I’ve got a question for you, though. What was that about with Allura?”

“I wasn’t gonna leave you here,” Keith says quietly.

“I would’ve been fine, Keith. But that’s not all.” Shiro hesitates. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you be that rude to her.”

Keith crosses his arms. “I’m stressed out, okay? Life’s been really fucking weird lately, and it’s getting to me. Sorry.”

“I’m not the person you need to apologize to,” Shiro says mildly. And then, before Keith can respond or try to change the subject, “Have you tried talking about it?”

Keith groans. “Do I have to?”

Shiro feels a small smile curve his mouth. It’s like he’s trying to talk to thirteen year-old Keith, not twenty-one _(twenty-one? When did that happen, why did he miss so much, he should’ve been there)_ year-old Keith. “Technically, no. But you know I’m probably going to annoy you until you do.”

“Asshole,” Keith mutters, then sighs. “I— I talked to Mom about some things. And Romelle, a little. Not— not everything, but. It’s a start.”

“I’m here.” It’s an offer, one that Shiro hasn’t been able to make since before the Kerberos mission. He watches as his brother leans both arms on the bed, resting his forehead on clasped hands.

“I don’t know where to begin,” Keith says quietly. “I found my mom. I spent two years on the back of a whale in space and saw visions of my future. I found an Altean that wasn’t Allura or Coran. I came back and I almost lost you again. And now I’m— I’m confused, Shiro. I keep thinking about the things I saw and I don’t— I don’t know how to understand them.”

“Talk it out with me,” Shiro says. “I’ll help you figure it out, that’s what I’m here for.”

He’s not expecting Keith’s next words. “Adam’s alive. And he’s waiting for you.”

Shiro feels like a shock’s gone all the way through him. “Adam?” he says weakly.

Keith looks up and nods. “I don’t know if— if telling you too much will make the future change. But he’s there, when we get home.” He smiles, eyes starting to glisten a little. “He really misses you.”

Shiro covers his mouth with his hand and closes his eyes. Breathe in, hold. Breathe out, slowly. Again. Again. Again. Again. He hears Keith shift and opens his eyes to see his brother curled up in his chair. He hugs his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them, and Shiro’s mind’s eye superimposes an image of fourteen year-old Keith sitting just like this after his first day at the Garrison. He smiles a little.

“I’m glad,” he says. Keith hides his own smile in the crook of his arm. He closes his eyes, scrunching his eyebrows together a little bit.

“There’s, um. There’s something else. That. I need to tell you about.” He sounds hesitant in a way Keith almost never does. It sets off warning bells in Shiro’s head and he tries to sit up straighter, alert.

“Yeah?”

“Um.” Keith opens his eyes and fixes his gaze on the door. Shiro glances over at it, but it’s closed still. “There were. Some other things I saw.” He takes a deep breath. “You know Lance?”

Shiro can’t help it; he snorts quietly. “Yeah, obviously.”

Keith rolls his eyes, relaxing minutely. “Shut up, this is serious. I saw him. When I was in the Quantum Abyss.”

Oh? “Oh?”

“Yeah. It— he was in, um. A few of my visions.” His eyes flick over to Shiro. “A lot of my visions.”

Shiro braces his hand against the bed so he can lean forward a bit. “Oh?” he says again. He can feel the smile spreading across his face, the same one he used to get when Keith talked about the cute, annoying cargo pilot in his class.

Keith sees it and groans, burying his face in his hands. “Oh, no. Nope. I regret this. I’m not telling you anything, ever.”

“No, come on!” Shiro says, laughing. “If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, I’m very happy for you.”

Keith lets out a sound reminiscent of a whale. Which, part of Shiro’s mind muses, could be something he picked up from being on the back of a whale for two years. Interesting concept, but he pushes the thought away. Maybe he’ll ask Keith about it later, but he has more pressing questions right now.

“C’mon, Keith,” he says. “I won’t tell anyone about it, I promise. Do you want to me pinky swear? Because I’ll pinky swear.”

Keith glares at him for a moment before holding up his left hand, pinky finger sticking out. “Yeah, actually,” he says. “I want you to pinky swear that you will never breathe a word of what I’m about to tell you to anyone at all without my permission.” He pauses for a moment. “Except Adam. You can tell Adam when we get home. He’ll probably be more help.”

Shiro curls his pinky around Keith’s, tilting his hand so they can press their thumbs together. “I swear,” he says, the picture of solemnity. Keith lets go and leans back, letting out a slow exhale.

“Okay,” he says. “Okay. Give me a minute.”

“Take your time.”

Keith takes a few more deep breaths. “Okay, um. Supposedly. At some point. Lance and I are together. Like _together_ together.”

“No shit?”

Keith shakes his head. “No shit.” He looks up at the ceiling. “We, uh. We were wearing rings in a few of them.”

Shiro gasps. “What did they look like?”

“Uh.” Keith looks down, spreading the fingers of his left hand. “Pretty simple. Just like,” he draws a circle in the air with his finger, “like yours and Adam’s, but more plain. Mine had a blue stone. Lance’s had a red one.”

“Aw, that’s so cute.”

Keith groans. “Shut up. We’ve barely even talked since I got back from the Abyss. Lance is pretty much in love with Allura. How am I supposed to believe he’s gonna want to get _married_ to me, ever?”

Shiro shifts, leaning back against his pillows. “Good things take time, Keith. It definitely seems like it’d be a lot harder to wait if you know where your relationship is going to end up one day, but you have to remember, pa—”

“Shiro,” Keith cuts him off, “if you say ‘patience yields focus’, I might strangle you.”

Shiro laughs and mimes zipping his lips. Keith holds out for only a second before laughing with him. They both look up when they hear the whir of the door opening. Lance walks in, Shiro sees the split second of panic on Keith’s face. He doesn’t have to ask to know what his brother’s thinking, because he’s thinking the same thing. Would Lance have been able to hear any of their conversation? Shiro doesn’t know how soundproof these rooms are.

“Hey, guys!” Lance says cheerily. “Keith, Allura wants to see you. She is,” he whistles lowly, _“pissed._ I get why you wanted to stay with Shiro, but man, you are, like, _in for it._ Sorry, buddy.”

Keith stands up. “I’ll, uh, go see her now then.” He’s fidgeting a little. Shiro meets his eyes, trying to convey calm just through his gaze. It doesn’t seem to work, but Keith gives him a small smile.

“Wait!” They both glance over at Lance, who’s got both his arms outstretched, gesturing for Keith to sit back down. “There’s something else I need to tell you guys. You’re gonna wanna make sure you’re sitting down for this, trust me.”

Keith lowers himself back onto his chair, watching Lance warily. “Alright,” he says slowly. “What’s up?”

Lance scratches the back of his neck and looks up at the ceiling. “Okay,” he says. “This is going to sound absolutely buckwild, but I’m going to need the two of you to bear with me, alright?” He takes a deep breath. “So, you know how the rest of us went to that meeting with the aliens— the Aelehrs— right? They were saying some weird stuff about how it was really good to see that Voltron hadn’t been lost and that the universe still had hope and stuff, like we’d been gone, and Allura asked them about it and. Well. It turns out we _were_ gone.”

Keith leans forward. “What do you mean, _‘we were gone’?”_

Lance swallows. “Voltron disappeared after our fight with Lotor. No one’s seen us for about three decaphoebs. Everyone thinks— everyone thought we died with him.”

There’s silence in the wake of the revelation Lance just dropped on them. It’s Shiro who breaks it. “What the fuck,” he says, leaning his head back against his pillows and staring up at the ceiling. “What the fuck.”

“What the fuck,” Keith agrees weakly. “Kinda makes sense, though. Remember, ‘it’s good to have you back’?”

“What the fuck,” Shiro says, one more time. Lance is still standing by his bedside, starting to fidget, looking a little bewildered at Shiro and Keith’s reactions. Shiro remembers that he’s made an effort not to swear in front of any of the former Garrison cadets except Keith. Oops. He nods towards Lance. “You should sit down, too.”

Lance glances around quickly. “Uh, there’s no…” he trails off.

“Keith, give him your chair.”

“Why?”

“You’re getting up to go anyway, be a fucking gentleman, god.”

Keith huffs but gets up, reaching out flick the side of Shiro’s forehead as he gestures for Lance to sit. Lance looks kind of shocked, maybe because of the _fucking gentleman_ comment, but Shiro figures since he’s already started swearing in front of the kid he shouldn’t bother stopping.

“Will you be okay here by yourself?” Keith asks.

Shiro hums. “Lance’ll be here to keep me company. And besides, I want to talk to him about something.”

It’s almost comical how Keith and Lance’s faces both pale at that. Keith narrows his eyes at Shiro. _“You promised,”_ he hisses at Shiro in Japanese. Shiro notices how his accent’s changed, how Keith sounds a little like he’s struggling to say the words as fluently as he used to.

 _“It’s about something else, calm down.”_  And apparently Shiro’s has gotten just as bad in the past few years. Something about that makes his chest clench. Lance’s eyes flick between both of them for a moment, back and forth, back and forth, before he pipes up.

“I’ll tell you if anything happens, if that’s what you’re worried about,” he says to Keith.

Keith shakes his head. “No, I trust you.” He casts one last glance at Shiro. “I’ll be back later to check on Shiro, though.”

Lance nods. “Cool, cool. Uh. See you then.”

Keith nods again and turns to leave.

—

Lance tries not to fidget in his seat. Shiro’s not looking at him, still watching the door. The silence that lays over them is thick and uncomfortable and Lance kind of wishes he were anywhere but here. He stares at his hands.

“I owe you an apology.”

Lance’s head snaps up. “What?”

“I owe you an apology.” He’s looking at Lance now. “The things Kuron said to you… you thought that was me. And I want you to know that they’re not true. I’m sorry you had to hear them. You deserve better than that, Lance.”

Lance looks away. “It’s fine. That wasn’t you, so, like, don’t worry about it. And I, um. I’m sorry, too.”

“Sorry for what?”

Lance stares at the wall. “You tried to reach me in the astral plane, and I let you down. I’m sorry I didn’t realize. I’m sorry I didn’t reach you sooner.”

“Lance.” Shiro sounds… disappointed? No. Shiro sounds _sad._ “Hey, Lance, look at me.”

Lance doesn’t want to, but his eyes meet Shiro’s without his own permission.

“Lance,” Shiro says gently, and Lance hears Marco’s voice, hears Luis, hears Veronica. It makes a lump rise in his throat.

“Lance,” Shiro says again. “It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”

“It _is,”_ Lance insists, voice thick. “If I’d just been _better—”_

“No,” Shiro says firmly. “You did the best you could. You’re under a lot of stress, especially for someone your age. Don’t beat yourself up about it. You’re doing better than a lot of people in your position would, Lance. You’re doing great.”

Lance sniffles quietly. “Sure doesn’t feel like it.”

“Hey, for what it’s worth, I’m glad I reached out to you first. You’re the heart of this team, Lance.”

“Like I said,” Lance says tightly, “doesn’t feel like it. Hasn’t felt like it for a good long while.” He’s not bitter. He _isn’t._

Shiro frowns. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

Lance scrubs at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I don’t know. It’s dumb, I don’t wanna bother you.”

“You’re not bothering me. If something’s bothering _you,_ though, I want you to talk to me about it. If— if you’re comfortable with that.”

Lance sighs. “I just— I don’t know. Things have been really— just— I don’t feel like I belong here.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Like. I feel like everyone on the team treats me like an extra. Hunk and Pidge hang out and do their science thing all the time, Allura’s got Romelle and Coran— and don’t get me wrong, I get that like they’re the last of her people, and I’m so happy that she has them— and she’s just stressed out about leading the Coalition and stuff all the time. Keith decided to leave us and join the Blade of Marmora and now he’s got his mom and his dog. And you— _Kuron_ was just— no offense but he was just such an asshole.” Lance realizes too late that his eyes are wet again. He rubs them again furiously. “Ugh. Sorry. I sound so— so _needy.”_

“No, you don’t.” Shiro’s face is twisted a little, like he’s in pain _for_ Lance. “That’s— it’s normal to feel like that when your whole team’s either ignoring you or being dicks. I’m so sorry, Lance.”

“‘S not your fault.”

“Still. I was the leader, I should’ve done better when I was there. And. I’ll talk to Keith about leaving like that. He shouldn’t have done that.”

Lance shakes his head, curling up on his chair. “No. I think he needed to. It was good for him, in any case. He found his mom and—” _How am I supposed to believe he’s gonna want to get married to me, ever?_ Heat rises to his cheeks. “Yeah. He— he found his mom.”

Shiro peers at him curiously. “Yeah,” he says slowly, “he did. Lance, are you feeling okay? You look kinda like you’re burning up.” He raises his hand and places his palm against Lance’s forehead. Lance jerks a little at the touch but stays still, watching Shiro’s brow furrow. “Hm. You don’t feel too warm, but then again,” he smiles now, “I don’t think I’m the best judge of that right now.”

“Oh!” Lance says. “Um. How are you feeling?”

Shiro raises his eyebrows. “I’ve been better.” Something must show on Lance’s face, because he follows up immediately with,”Really, Lance, I’m doing okay. Kind of disoriented, though. Trying to separate Kuron’s memories from mine is… weird.”

Lance winces. “Yeah, I can’t imagine that would be fun.”

Shiro shrugs a shoulder. “Could always be worse.”

Lance pauses. “I don’t wanna think about it being worse, honestly.”

They lapse into silence after that. Lance fidgets in his seat, looking around the room. It looks sterile, kind of like the few hospital rooms he’s seen back on Earth. The only difference is that this room seems…. warmer somehow. Less cold and impersonal than a hospital room usually feels. It’s a contrast to the stark white walls of the halls outside. Lance decides he likes it, even if he doesn’t like the circumstances that brought them here.

“So,” Shiro says after a few minutes. Lance starts a little at the sound of his voice. “The, um, the Aelehrs, did they say anything else about Voltron… being gone?”

“Um. I don’t think so? I kind of, uh, stopped to process after they said we were gone for decaphoebs.” Lance lets out a little, sad laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. “It was kind of a lot to take in suddenly. And, uh, then I had to come get Keith, so. I don’t know if they said anything else.”

Shiro leans back against his pillows. “Yeah, no, I understand. It’s really weird to think about.” Then, quieter, “Do you think everyone on Earth…?” He trails off, looking down and biting his lip. It’s a very un-Shiro-like expression, Lance thinks. He’s never seen Shiro look so… uncertain?

“Also thinks we’re dead?” Lance asks, just as quiet. “I— I hate to say it, but. I don’t see why they wouldn’t.” He takes a deep breath. “But hey! We’re going home. They’ll know we’re alive soon enough.” He tries shifting the conversation in a different direction. “Are you, uh, excited to see Adam again?”

A soft smile creeps it’s way over Shiro’s face. “Yeah. Yeah, I really am.”

Lance hums. “What’s he like? Apart from being a teacher, I mean. I know all about that.” He shudders a little. “I think I still have nightmares about his tests.”

That’s not true. But the joke lands, getting a laugh out of Shiro. “Yeah, he always thought those tests were a good idea up until he had to mark them. Then he’d be trying to rope me into helping him figure out what the hell you guys were thinking.”

Lance shrugs. “What can I say, I hate math.”

“You always aced those tests, though,” Shiro says softly. Lance ducks his head, feeling oddly embarrassed. “I think you might’ve been Adam’s favourite student. Only in class, though. He did appreciate some of your pranks, but it got a bit much sometimes.”

Lance huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, I guess it did, huh?”

Shiro hums. “I thought some of them were kind of genius. That time with the PA systems giving Iverson a chipmunk voice? It definitely hurt my ears after a bit, but it was hilarious. The ‘kick me’ stickies on his back were a bit juvenile, though. Still, very amusing.”

“Hey, you can’t fault the classics.” Lance grins at Shiro. Shiro laughs and grins back.

“Yeah, I guess you can’t.”

Silence falls again, but this time it’s comfortable. Lance leans back in his chair and closes his eyes. He hears Shiro’s breathing start to slow and deepen too, so he cracks one eye open and asks, “Tired?”

Shiro nods. “Do you mind if I…?”

Lance shakes his head. “No problem. I’ll be right here, you rest.”

Shiro sighs and closes his eyes, sinking down into his mattress. His breathing evens out within minutes. Lance stays awake long enough to make sure Shiro’s still comfortable, then dozes off too.

—

Keith stares at the back of Allura’s head. Her hair is pulled up into a more elegant bun than normal, a few strands of hair pulled loose to frame her face. She changed out of her paladin armour for the meeting, replacing it with her usual floor-length dress.

He knows she’s right. He shouldn’t have been so rude to her, and he shouldn’t have brushed off their hosts on this planet the way he did. But he doesn’t feel sorry about it. Keith did what he thought was right in order to make sure his older brother stayed safe. He doesn’t think that’s a decision he should be punished for.

Allura leads him down another corridor, into a large bedroom. Judging by the armour laid out on the bed and the mice sleeping on the pillow, it’s hers for now. “Sit,” she says, not turning around.

Keith brushes past her and sits on the bed. He looks her in the eye for the first time since she left Shiro’s room. Lance was right. Allura looks pissed off, still.

“Would you like to explain yourself?” she asks, quiet and measured.

“He’s my brother, Allura,” he says quietly, “and he’s hurt. I have to take care of him.”

“You also have to take care of this team, Keith,” Allura snaps. “You are the Black Paladin, the _leader_ of Voltron. Which means you need to lead. You have an obligation to this team and you need to fulfill it. We all care about Shiro, you know we do. But we need to have priorities.”

“He _is_ a priority!” Keith shoots to his feet, breathing hard. Allura doesn’t flinch, just meets his steely gaze with her own.

“All I’m saying,” she says evenly, “is that there are times where you need to put the team _and the universe_ first. Don’t forget who you are.”

Keith feels his face twist. He doesn’t waste a second in leaving the room before he says something he’ll regret.

—

Krolia is wandering the halls outside her room when Keith nearly runs right into her.

“Hey,” she says, catching sight of the expression on his face, “what’s wrong?”

Keith exhales roughly through his nose. “Everything,” he says, harsh. Krolia frowns. She draws an arm around his shoulders, gently pulling him in for a hug. Keith leans against her, shaking slightly.

“Talk to me?” she asks quietly. Keith steps back and looks up at her. Her son looks so tired. It makes Krolia’s heart ache.

“I—,” he starts, and then, “Allura’s mad at me. And I know she has a right to be, because I’ve been rude to her and rude to our hosts, but I just. She wants me to leave Shiro here. Or at least, I don’t know, focus on helping the team before helping him. And I know the team is important and Voltron is important but I _can’t._ He’s never given up on me, I can’t give up on him now. Not when he needs help from _all_ of us.” His shoulders slump. Like this, he looks so small.

“And Allura won’t understand if you explain it all to her?” An indignant look crosses Keith’s face when she says this. Quickly, she adds, “I’m not trying to patronize you, Keith. I just want to understand this situation a little bit better before I try to help.”

Keith deflates at that. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to explain it to her. It’s just— I don’t know.”

Krolia hesitates. “I don’t suppose you’d be alright with me talking to her on your behalf?”

Keith snorts. “Definitely not. No offense.”

“Well,” Krolia says, tugging gently on Keith’s shoulder so he falls into step next to her, “is there anything you think you want to do about this?”

“I don’t know,” Keith says, frustrated. “I mean, I see Allura’s point and I know that she’s right but I just can’t leave Shiro here if he’s not well. And I don’t know how to make her understand that. Or what to do about it.”

“I’m sorry I can’t help you, Keith,” Krolia says, wrapping an arm around his shoulders again and tucking him against her side as they walk. “Do you think talking to Shiro about it might help? You trust his judgement.”

Keith leans against her. “Yeah, maybe. Thanks, Mom.”

 

Shiro’s asleep when they get to his room. Lance is curled up in the chair next to his bed. He’s sleeping too, but he stirs when the door opens, and then straightens up when he sees Keith and Krolia.

“Hey,” he says, “everything alright?”

Keith shrugs. “Yeah. Just wanted to talk to Shiro, I guess. Oh, and,” he raises the small tray in his hands that they’d stopped to get on their way here, “he’s supposed to eat something around now.”

“Oh,” Lance says. “Just let me, uh.” He reaches over and pushes at Shiro’s shoulder gently. “Hey,” he says quietly. “Hey, your brother’s here. He’s got food. Shiro, wake up.”

Shiro stirs, blinking blearily. “What?” he mumbles, swatting at Lance with his arm. The sight makes everyone in the room laugh.

Keith and Krolia cross the room to stand by Shiro’s bed, across from Lance. “Food, that’s what,” Keith says, setting the tray down on Shiro’s little nightstand. He sits down at the foot of his brother’s bed, criss-crossing his legs. Krolia sits down on the bed too, at Shiro’s side.

Shiro tries to sit up immediately. He grunts and sways as he pushes himself up off his pillows, closing his eyes in pain. Keith and Lance both move to help him, but Krolia reaches him first, steadying him and easing him up, arranging his pillows so he can comfortably lean back against them.

“Take it easy,” she says, the barest hint of scolding in her voice. Keith stifles laughter. Out of the corner of her eye, Krolia sees Lance doing the same. Shiro frowns and sticks his tongue out at both of them, and Keith lets the laugh escape him, throwing his head back and guffawing, Lance’s laughter joins his.

“Hey!” Shiro kicks at him. “Don’t be rude!”

Keith kicks back, lightly. “No,” he says, sticking his tongue out. Shiro laughs too, now. Still smiling, Keith gestures to the tray on the nightstand. “You should eat. There’s soup and, like, bread.”

“Love bread,” Shiro says, reaching for the tray. Krolia gently helps him balance it, settling it on his lap. He gives her a small smile. “Thanks,” he says quietly. She smiles back.

“So,” Lance leans forward, looking at Keith, “did Allura chew you out or what?”

Keith’s shoulders stiffen. “Yeah, something like that,” he says, frowning down at Shiro’s sheets. Lance seems to pick up on the change in demeanor.

“Wanna talk about it?” he offers, “Shiro and your mom are here, and, I don’t know, I might be able to give you some advice, too. Or at least listen.”

Keith’s eyes soften. “Thanks,” he says, “yeah, that would be nice.” He sighs and shifts so he can lean against Krolia. She moves to sit cross-legged on the edge of the bed, wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulders for comfort. She notices Shiro straighten up a little, focusing his attention on his little brother. Keith sighs.

“She just— she wants me to put the team above Shiro. And I get where she’s coming from and I know that she’s right. I’m the paladin of the Black Lion, I’m Voltron’s leader, and I should be putting the fate of the universe before everything else. I understand that, I get it. But— I just _can’t._ I can’t do that.” He sighs again, slumping further against Krolia. She tucks his head underneath her chin, humming as she runs a hand up and down his back. Shiro reaches out, but he can’t make contact without moving from his position. Keith reaches back, curling his fingers loosely around Shiro’s wrist. Lance gets up from his chair, sitting on the other side of Shiro’s bed and laying a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“What do you think you _can_ do?” Shiro asks quietly. “Let’s start there.”

Keith’s voice is barely a whisper. “Help my brother.”

“Aw, bud,” Shiro says. He shakes his wrist out of Keith’s grip and raises his arm. Keith goes, clinging to his brother. Shiro curls his arm around Keith’s back, protective.

“How do I tell Allura?” Keith whispers. Krolia’s heart breaks at the look on her son’s face, downcast and scared. He looks so young like this, younger than she ever got to see him.

“I’ll talk to her,” Lance says quietly. “Don’t you worry about a thing, alright? I can talk to Allura. You take care of your brother.” Keith gives him a small, watery smile.

“Thanks, Lance.”

Lance shrugs and gets up to leave. “Don’t mention it.”

 

Keith falls asleep eventually, curled up against Shiro’s side. Shiro shifts over to make space for Krolia to squeeze in on Keith’s other side. She wraps an arm around her son, so it feels like she and Shiro both are protecting him. She stares down at Keith’s sleeping face.

“He scares me sometimes,” Shiro says quietly. “When he says things like that. I don’t want anything bad to happen to him because of me. I don’t want anything bad to happen to him at all.”

Krolia sighs, pressing her cheek to the crown of Keith’s head. “I don’t know how to take care of him,” she admits. “I don’t think I know how to be a mother.”

Shiro snorts softly. “You get the hang of it eventually. I had Adam helping me. And I know Keith’s dad is gone, but the rest of us are here, and we all care about him. So really, you don’t have to take care of him alone.”

Krolia hums. “It’s not just that. I just— he’s my _son,_ and I barely even know him. I should’ve been there for him, I should’ve stayed on Earth. I should never have left him.”

“You’re here for him now,” Shiro whispers, “and you said you’re never going to leave him again. That has to be enough for now.”

“Thank you again,” Krolia says. “You— you raised him, when I wasn’t there. And he’s grown into such a brave and strong young man because of you. I don’t think I can ever explain how much that means to me.”

“You don’t have to,” Shiro says. “He means a lot to me, too.”

—

Lance actually spends some time walking the halls before going to find Allura, trying to figure out what exactly to say to her. He has to make sure she actually _listens,_ has to really try and make her understand where Keith’s coming from.

“He only just got his brother back,” Lance murmurs under his breath, “so you have to understand— no, that’s— no. He needs to be with his family right now. Maybe?” He sighs, running a hand through his hair. “It’s fine, Lance. Just— just explain the situation to her. It’s fine. It’s chill.” He breathes out once, sharply, before going down the route he thinks leads to Allura’s room.

He pauses when he reaches her door, closing his eyes and bracing himself before knocking. It’s not Allura who opens the door, but Romelle. Lance gives her an awkward little smile. “Hey, is Allura here?”

Romelle glances over her shoulder. “Yes?” she says slowly, looking back to Lance. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah,” Lance says. And then, raising his voice just a little so Allura can hear him from inside the room, “We need to talk.”

Romelle hesitates. “Should I…?” She gestures past Lance. He considers it for a moment, but then reasons that Keith and Romelle are getting close, and maybe she’ll be able to help his case. He shakes his head.

“No, I think you should be a part of this conversation too.”

Romelle steps back to let him into the room. Lance walks in, glancing over to see Allura sitting cross-legged on the bed. “Hey,” he says.

“Lance,” she says back, watching him move to sit gingerly on the corner of the bed. “Did you need something?”

“Kind of, yeah.” He pauses as Romelle takes a seat next to Allura. “We need to talk about Keith.”

Allura’s face shutters. “Oh?”

Lance swallows. “Yeah. Look, I know you want Keith to be a good leader. He wants to be a good leader, too. But right now? Right now he needs to look after Shiro.”

Allura’s jaw clenches. “Is that so?” Her voice is chilling. Romelle puts a hand on Allura’s arm.

“Yes,” Lance says firmly. “Allura, he only just got his brother back. I don’t— look, I don’t want to, I don’t know, overstep here, but I’m sure you can understand his need to stay with his family right now.”

The tension in Allura’s shoulders eases just a little, but her gaze is still steely. “I do understand, Lance. But this is bigger than us. This is about protecting the whole universe. We can’t put the things we want first, not right now.” Lance notices the way Romelle stiffens and retracts her hand. “Not when we need to re-establish Voltron as a symbol of protection.”

“And what if Keith can’t do that right now?” Lance isn’t sure if he’s making the right decision here, trying to suggest this, but maybe someone needs to.

Something in Allura’s gaze shifts, regarding him carefully. “Sorry?”

“What if—,” Lance pauses, takes a breath, “what if Keith _can’t_ put Voltron first? What if it’s just not possible for him right now?”

“Then we find someone who can.” Allura lifts her chin.

Lance rubs the sweat on his palms off on his pants. “Okay,” he says. “Okay. As long— as long as we’re not hurting Keith and Shiro.”

Allura nods, still watching him in that careful way. “We won’t. We’ll make sure of it.”

Lance nods too. “Alright.” He gets up to leave. “Well,” he gestures to the door, “I’ll just…”

“Lance?” Allura says when he opens the door. He turns slightly, watching how she leans into Romelle just a little. “Thank you. I’m— it was good of you to bring this to me. Thank you.”

Lance shrugs. “Don’t mention it.”

 

Lance walks back into Shiro’s room to the cutest sight he’s ever seen in his life. Keith is on the bed, curled up between Shiro and Krolia. The three of them are asleep, Shiro and Krolia each curling a protective arm around Keith. Krolia’s cheek rests on the top of Keith’s head. Lance wishes he had a phone or something, to save this moment.

“Hey,” he says quietly. Krolia stirs first, then nudges Keith and Shiro when she sees Lance. Lance smiles as the two of them blink blearily, looking around the room before their eyes fall on him. He moves closer, dropping down onto the bed and pulling his legs up.

“So I talked to Allura,” he says. Keith straightens up, alert. Shiro and Krolia each tighten the arm they have around him, looking at each other over the top of his head.

“What—,” Keith clears his throat. He stretches his legs, feet bumping against Lance’s shins. “What did she say?”

“Well,” Lance pauses, putting his thoughts in order, “she’s not happy about you not being able to put Voltron first. Which,” he hurries on when all three members of his audience open their mouths, “is understandable from her perspective, you have to understand. But. She thinks that if you really think you can’t focus on Voltron while Shiro’s not well then, and hear me out here, she thinks maybe we should find someone who can.”

“A new Black Paladin?” Shiro says, brow furrowing.

Lance nods. “Yeah, I think that’s what she was getting at.”

Keith is quiet. Lance watches his face closely, seeing the scrunch of his brow, the slightly downturned corner of his mouth. Lance kind of wants to ask what he’s thinking right now; the expression on Keith’s face is impossible to read. Just as he’s opening his mouth, Keith speaks.

“That’s not a bad idea.” It’s barely more than a murmur, probably aimed more at himself than at anyone else in the room. Shiro and Krolia both focus in on him. Krolia looks shocked and bewildered. Shiro just looks thoughtful.

“The final decision is up to you. You get to choose what we do here,” Lance says, “so if you wanna keep Black, I can try and convince Allura—,”

“No,” Keith cuts in. “No. She’s right. I think we should find a new Black Paladin.” He raises his eyes to meet Lance’s. “I think it should be you, Lance.”

Lance opens his mouth but no sound comes out. He points at himself. “Me?” he asks weakly. Keith nods.

“You.” His voice is firm, unwavering. Shiro and Krolia both look up at Lance, too. Shiro still looks thoughtful. Krolia’s face is unreadable.

Lance clears his throat. “Well, I mean— we— we have to see what Black thinks too, yeah? I can’t be the Black Paladin unless she chooses me.”

Keith doesn’t say anything more, keeping his intense gaze locked on Lance. Lance fights the urge to squirm under it. Shiro breaks the silence. “We’ll see, alright?” He smiles at Lance. “But, for the record, I agree with Keith. I think you’d make a great leader, Lance.”

Lance blinks hard, looking down at his lap. “Thanks,” he says, barely a whisper.

—

Keith stands in front of the Black Lion. She lowers her head just enough for him to feel like she’s looking into his eyes. Shiro lays his hand on Keith’s shoulder, squeezing it.

“I know you’re sure about this,” he says, “but I gotta ask again. So: are you really sure about this, Keith?”

Keith nods. Not breaking eye contact with Black, he says “Keep him safe.” He feels her mind pulse against his in acknowledgement. He turns away, to the group gathered in front of the Lions. Lance stands at the front, Krolia and the Alteans beside him. Hunk and Pidge stand a little farther away. The wolf sits at Krolia’s feet, ears perked up, watching attentively.

“She’s all yours,” he says to Lance. Lance nods at him, face determined, and walks past as Black lowers her head all the way to let him in. Keith and Shiro go rejoin the rest of the group as her ramp closes and her head lifts back up, standing regal and proud. Krolia smiles at him. Romelle’s hand closes around his wrist, gripping tight.

Moments pass and nothing happens. Keith can still feel Black on the edge of his consciousness, but he can’t tell what’s going on inside her cockpit. He starts to fidget a little, stopped only by Romelle’s fingers tightening around his wrist again.

“Look,” she whispers. He looks.

Black’s head lowers back down to the ground, jaw opening to reveal Lance walking down the ramp. He’s looking down at his feet, shoulders slumped. Keith frowns. That’s not right.

“I’m not the Black Paladin,” Lance says.

“What do you mean?” Keith moves forward, stopping a foot away.

Lance shrugs. “She doesn’t want me as her paladin.”

“That’s not right,” Keith says. He looks up at Black. “That’s _not_ right,”

“It’s not our decision to make, Keith,” Romelle says gently from behind him. “The Black Lion has to choose her paladin, not us.”

Keith turns around. Romelle looks— she looks pitying, and Keith kind of hates it. He looks away from her, meeting Shiro’s eyes instead. His brother looks the same way he feels. Disappointed, sad, a little angry. They both know it should be Lance who pilots the Black Lion now.

“We still need a Black Paladin,” Allura says. “I’m sorry, Keith, but I don’t think you can give up your position right now.”

Lance comes forward to stand next to Keith, placing a hand high up on Keith’s back. Keith has to suppress a shiver, despite himself. A sideways glance at him shows nothing on his face; he’s not looking at Keith, eyes fixed on Allura.

“You try,” Lance says to Allura. Allura blinks at him, bewildered, then frowns.

“Sorry?”

Lance cocks his head toward the Black Lion. “You try,” he says again. “Try piloting her.” There’s something in his voice, some kind of steel-hard surety, and that has to be what prompts Allura into moving. Keith and Lance both turn to watch her walk up the ramp. And then, they wait again. It feels like déja vu except this time Lance is beside him instead of in Black’s cockpit, and his hand hasn’t moved from where it rests firmly between Keith’s shoulder blades.

It isn’t long, though, until they all see the Black Lion’s eyes flash, see her shift her stance and then _roar,_ so loud Keith feels it in the ground, in his bones, down to his very soul, feels the way her mind and her power presses down against all of them, strong and sure and steady. He sneaks another sideways glance at Lance and sees him staring with his head tipped back, lips parted slightly. There’s a hint of sadness in his eyes, but there is just as much awe and Keith finds he can’t quite look away, not until the Black Lion settles down and Allura comes down the ramp.

Lance leaves his side to go up to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. He says something to her, too quiet for even Keith’s Galra ears to pick up. He stomps down the sudden surge of jealousy at seeing them with their heads bent together, speaking quietly. Their expressions are solemn and serious. Keith wishes he knew how to read lips.

Allura nods to him. She opens her mouth, hesitates, then says, “Thank you. I know I’m not your first choice as successor to the Black Lion, so thank you for accepting this.” Keith doesn’t say anything, just nods back.

“That’s one problem solved,” Shiro says, “but now we need a new Blue Pa—”

He’s cut off by the Blue Lion herself, climbing to her feet and ambling closer, lowering her head—

And nudging Keith so hard he falls over.

He hears Shiro’s startled laughter, but over that he hears her soft growl in his mind. A greeting, tentative but warm. He raises a hand to her muzzle.

“Hey, girl,” he says softly.

 

It’s Coran who comments on it later.

“It’s rather interesting,” he says, taking a sip of his drink. It’s a culturally iconic drink on this planet, Keith’s been told. He doesn’t think it’s that great but Coran is on his fourth bottle, so maybe he just doesn’t have the taste for it.

“What is?” Romelle asks. She’s sitting beside Keith, picking at the various different foods she’s piled onto her plate.

“The choices the Lions made. The Red Lion chose Lance earlier, yes, but now the Black and Blue Lions have chosen Allura and Keith, respectively. Although,” he twirls his moustache around one finger, thinking, “it does make a certain amount of sense, I suppose.”

Allura, sitting on Romelle’s other side, perks up. “How so?”

Coran puts his drink down and pushes his plate away, spreading his hands on the surface of the table. Everyone turns their attention to him, straightening up. Even Hunk and Pidge break away from whatever technobabble-filled conversation they were having to listen to what Coran’s about to say.

“You all know that each of the Lions— and by extension their paladins— hold a place in the cohesive whole that is Voltron. The Lions choose their paladins based on traits that best suit their role. That’s part of why a Lion can choose a different paladin later down the line; people can change, and so can their roles in a team.” He lifts one finger.

“The Black Lion is the head of Voltron, and the Black Paladin is the leader. They must be capable of making difficult decisions and putting the protection of the universe first. They must be decisive but willing to listen to input from others in order to do what is right. The Black Paladin must have a strong sense of justice and duty, above all else.” He raises another finger.

“The Red Lion is Voltron’s right arm. Her paladin is the leader’s right hand. This is someone who can hold the team together, who puts people around them before themselves. An advisor, a confidant, and more than anything else, a steadfast friend. Someone who connects with others. The Red Paladin must sometimes act as a counter to the Black Paladin, a co-leader if you will.” Coran lifts a third finger.

“The Blue Lion is one of the legs Voltron stands on. Her paladin is someone who is supportive to their team, and who is unfailingly loyal to the people that they love. The Blue Paladin understands their team members, not in the way a leader must, but in the way they need to be understood. They see the potential in their teammates, and they do their best to bring it out.” Coran folds his fingers back down and leans back in his chair, looking around.

Everyone around the table is silent, until Lance lets out a small “huh” and looks down at his hands. Keith can’t quite catch his expression from where he’s sitting.

“That’s really interesting, Coran,” Shiro says, leaning his elbow on the table. He flicks an unreadable glance towards Keith as he does. Keith narrows his eyes back at him. “So the Lions can choose different paladins based on what they think fits their role in the team? Does that also mean they can stop letting someone be their paladin for the same reason?”

Coran hums. “Sort of. The Lions know what’s best for the team given the people that they have around them as potential paladins. So, for instance, you have a leader that doesn’t suit the Black Lion’s version of a leader,” he gestures to Keith, who tries not to feel a flicker of indignance at that, “but no one to easily replace them, the Black Lion will keep them as her paladin until a suitable replacement comes along.”

“So Black and Blue knew where Allura and Keith should’ve been? Why not make them switch earlier?” Hunk asks.

Coran shrugs. “Hard to say. Could be that the Lions needed us to come to this conclusion— that we needed a new Black Paladin— by ourselves, so we’d be more receptive to a switch.” He pauses. “There’s a lot that they know that we don’t. We have to remember that these Lions are ancient beings. They carry wisdom we can’t even begin to understand.” He picks up his drink again. “But who’s to say we won’t understand it one day, eh? Maybe you paladins will be able to connect with your Lions better now that you’re in the right places.” He winks at them.

The right places, huh? Keith glances at Lance out of the corner of his eye, only to see Lance already looking back.

—

“Allura,” Lance says through the door. “We need to talk.”

Allura, for just a moment, considers not answering. It’s been a long few days, what with Shiro waking up and Keith resigning as the Black Paladin and, more recently, with having to take on that mantle herself. She’s not really in the mood for whatever Lance is about to say. Which probably isn’t fair to him, granted, but for the past few days he’d been the one acting as a liaison between her and Keith when the two of them couldn’t stand being around each other, and it had felt like he was taking Keith’s side the whole time.

So, no, Allura doesn’t really think they need to talk. But she answers the door anyway. Lance stands on the other side, dressed casually. “Can I come in?” he asks.

Allura moves aside and gestures toward the bed. “Have a seat.”

Lance sits down gingerly, rubbing his palms against his thighs. Allura stands in front of him, arms crossed. “Well?”

Lance takes a deep breath. “Okay,” he says. “Okay. I, um, I need to tell you some things. And I need you to just— just listen, okay?”

Allura frowns. “This isn’t about—”

He cuts her off. “It’s— I’m not here about Keith. Or, well, not really. Kind of. Just listen to me, please.”

“Do not cut me off like that,” she says, and then nods at him to continue.

“Okay,” he says. He looks like he’s bracing himself for something, and Allura’s about to tell him to just spit it out when—

“I had feelings for you.”

Allura blinks. She opens her mouth, but Lance is looking down at his lap instead of at her as he continues speaking.

“‘Had’ is important. I— I was in love with you, kind of, I think. And I’m not telling you this because I want anything more out of our relationship. I don’t— I don’t feel that way about you anymore. But I still need to tell you. For, I don’t know, for closure, I guess. I want to be able to move on from you fully, and in order to do that… I need you to know, I think. So I’m not expecting anything out of this. I don’t want anything about us to change. I just. Want you to know that I’m moving on from you.” He exhales slowly, breath whooshing out of him. “That’s all.”

Allura sits down next to him slowly, folding her hands in her lap.

“I knew,” she says softly. Lance’s gaze snaps up to meet her, eyes wide. “The mice told me,” she continues.

“Oh,” Lance says. “I— I kind of hoped they hadn’t.” He lets out an embarrassed chuckle. “Guess this is kind of anticlimactic then, huh?’

Allura regards him carefully. “No,” she says. “I think it was very brave of you to tell me this Lance. I— I am sorry we could not be what you wanted.”

Lance frowns at her. “No, no, don’t be sorry, you shouldn’t be sorry. How I feel and how I react to those feelings isn’t your fault, Allura. It never will be.”

Allura blinks, taken aback. “Oh,” she says. And then, “May I ask… what brought this on? You telling me, I mean.”

Lance’s gaze slides away from hers, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “Oh, you know,” he says. “I’ve just, uh, been. Thinking a bit about the future. I need closure before I, uh, maybe try to pursue something else.”

Allura can’t help herself. She perks up a little, honing on Lance’s words. “Oh?” she says, voice deliberately light. “Something else, you say?”

Lance looks back up, smiling a little. He shakes his head. “Sorry, fearless leader, but you’re not getting it out of me that easily.” Allura huffs, and Lance laughs, and once they’ve both settled down he says, “So, what about you? Romelle, huh?”

Allura covers her face in shock. “Please don’t tell me I’ve been that obvious,” she says, muffled by her hands.

Lance chuckles. “Nah. I’ve just gotten used to noticing you.” He makes a face. “In, like, a non-creepy way.”

Allura laughs, too, then scoots up the bed and pats the space beside her. “What do you think of her? You’re my right-hand man now, I feel like I should be asking your opinion.”

Lance scoots up to join her. He puts a hand on his chin, humming. “Honestly, I don’t know her that well. But she seems really sweet. And Keith and Krolia and even Shiro seem to like her; she’s already basically family to them.”

Allura lets herself lean against him. Lance tenses up for barely a second and then relaxes, leaning into her, too. “I really like her, Lance,” Allura says quietly. “But I don’t want to compromise what Voltron needs to do.”

Lance shifts and puts an arm around her shoulders. “You don’t have to compromise Voltron. We’re all here, we’ll all support you. Sometimes you need to do what’s best for your heart, even if it’s not easy.”

Allura sighs, closing her eyes. “Maybe you’re right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aelehrs is just the word "healers" with the letters jumbled up, we love creativity
> 
> hmu on [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/criticaIhits) and [ tumblr ](https://demigodau.tumblr.com) i'm hungry for validation


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And now, everyone tries to adjust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> u may have noticed i added to the relationship tags on this fic! they're all platonic or familial relationships, i just wanted to add them bc i was having a lot of fun writing and plotting out those dynamics and like as much as i like writing people having feelings for each other and falling in love and pining this story isn't only about romance! other types of relationships are also super important to me! and i want to reflect that in my work! 
> 
> anyways it doesn't have to be this deep. also this may (read: definitely will) end up being more than 10 chapters n i'll update the chapter count when i have a better idea of just how big of a monster this fic is going to be lmao. pls enjoy a fresh new chapter for u
> 
> oh wait i almost forgot to add this is about where the canon-typical violence tag comes in but by that i mean there is like one short fight scene in the whole 11k chapter. but like. there will probs be more fighting in the future. ok now u can go enjoy

Romelle sees Allura and Lance come in for breakfast together. They’re walking side by side, talking quietly and smiling about something. She glances over at Keith to see him watching them, too. He looks at her, widening his eyes. She shrugs.

Allura comes to sit next to her. Lance takes a seat across from them, next to Keith. Romelle and Keith share another confused glance. Romelle shifts her gaze to Shiro, whose eyes are darting between the four of them. He raises both eyebrows at her. She shakes her head helplessly.

“Is no one else here yet?” Allura asks, making Romelle and Shiro and Keith all jump slightly. Keith clears his throat.

“Uh, no. Mom woke up early and already ate, I think she’s just out exploring and stuff. Hunk and Pidge are still asleep. I’m not sure about Coran.”

“Coran came in to eat earlier,” Shiro says. “He left pretty quick, though. I think he’s meeting with someone to talk about their castle, he seemed pretty interested in the architecture. I’m actually gonna go look for him after I finish breakfast. You’re welcome to come with.”

Allura nods. “I see. Thank you, Shiro.” She smiles at him.

They all fall into silence, then, as Allura and Lance dig into their breakfast. Shiro nudges Keith in the side and jerks his chin minutely at Lance and Allura. Keith shrugs and shakes his head, looking to Romelle for help. Romelle furrows her brow and looks over at Allura out of the corner of her eye, then shakes her head and looks up at the ceiling. Shiro sighs.

“Actually, I think I’m done eating,” he says. His chair scrapes loudly as he pushes it back and gets up. “I’m gonna go find Coran.”

Keith stands up quickly. “Yeah, I’m not hungry anymore either.”

Romelle follows suit. “Me neither. Besides,” she shrugs, “I wanted to ask the Aelehrs more about their medical practices.” She smiles at Allura. “It’s quite interesting.”

Allura blinks. “Oh,” she says. “Well, I suppose we’ll all catch up later?”

“Yeah,” Keith says, giving her a friendly wave, “of course.”

Romelle casts one more glance back at Allura as she and Keith follow Shiro out. She and Lance seem to be quietly talking about something, glancing over at the three of them. Romelle looks away quickly, speeding up a little to walk beside Keith.

“Can you hear what they’re saying?” she hisses.

“Nope. You?” She shakes her head. “Damn.” He sighs, then looks over at her, raising a finger to point. “Oh! Future reference: don’t provide so much detail when you lie. It’s a dead giveaway.”

In front of them Shiro pauses, then turns around just slightly. “Is that so?” he says, raising an eyebrow at Keith. Keith just shrugs, grinning unrepentantly. Shiro huffs, then moves before Keith or Romelle can react, wrapping his arm around Keith in a one-armed headlock. “Romelle,” he says, laughing. “Come here. Make a fist, and then rub your knuckles against the top of Keith’s head _really_ hard.” As soon as he says this, Keith starts squirming, and when she does it, he nearly shrieks.

“Mercy!” he shouts out through laughter. “Mercy, I said mercy!”

Shiro nods at her before letting go. Keith reaches up to massage at his head with the tips of his fingers, right over where Romelle rubbed her knuckles in. Shiro moves to stand beside her. “That,” he says, “is called a noogie. And you have my full permission to give Keith one whenever he’s being an obnoxious little bitch and a bad influence.” Keith sticks his tongue out. Romelle laughs.

“I’m serious,” Shiro says, reaching out to push Keith’s shoulder. “I think you’re starting to let this big brother thing go to your head.”

Keith snorts and shoves back. “Am not. Romelle, tell him I’m great.”

Romelle grins at Keith. “Yeah, Keith’s an absolutely terrible influence. He’s trying to teach me delinquency.” She and Shiro burst into loud, delighted laughter at the way Keith’s jaw drops, outrage crossing his features. She wipes a tear from her eye as she sobers up, then takes a few breaths to calm down completely. “Anyways,” she says, and jerks a thumb over her shoulder. “What in quizack was that?”

“Quiznak,” Shiro says absently. Keith shakes his head.

“It’s a linguistic thing,” he says. Shiro raises his eyebrows, evidently interested, but Keith cuts him off before he can ask anything about. He looks at Romelle. “Right? I mean, I knew Lance really liked Allura, but I didn’t know they were _that_ close suddenly.”

“Well,” Shiro says as they start walking again, “they did spend some time together figuring out the whole Lion situation.”

Romelle frowns. “Would they really have gotten _this_ close in that amount of time, though? We’ve only been here for about a movement. Surely that’s not long enough for…” She trails off, suddenly unsure.

Shiro reaches out, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his side. “Listen,” he says, “both of you. You can’t control the way that Allura and Lance feel. Not about each other, and not about you. And sometimes, loving someone means you just need to want them to be happy, no matter where they find that happiness or who they find it with. You guys get me?”

Romelle sighs. “Yeah.” Keith nods too, looking dejected.

“Hey,” Shiro says, more gentle now. “I’m not telling you to, like, give up hope or anything. I just don’t want either of you to get hurt.”

“We know, Shiro,” Keith says quietly.

“Thanks,” Romelle says, leaning her head against Shiro’s shoulder for a tick. He ducks his head down to rest on top of hers.

“Let’s go find Coran, alright?” Shiro pats Romelle’s shoulder once before letting go. “He has to be around here somewhere.”

Romelle strains her ears. She’s not trained in tracking, but Alteans have better hearing than humans, so she might as well try. Keith seems to have a similar idea. He closes his eyes and cocks his head, tilting it this way and that. He looks kind of silly.

They both hear Coran’s voice at the same time. Romelle can’t make out exactly what he’s saying, but maybe she can figure out which direction—

“There!” she says, pointing down a hall to their left. She leads the way, automatically shifting to her toes to walk more silently. She sees Shiro and Keith shrug and do the same, small smiles curving their mouths. The three of them creep down the hallway, listening as Coran’s voice becomes louder and it becomes clear that he’s talking to someone.

“Who else is there?” Shiro whispers.

“Mom,” Keith whispers back. He’s right. Romelle can hear Krolia’s softer voice under Coran’s.

“Okay,” Shiro whispers, dropping his voice so low that only Romelle and Keith would be able to hear it, “decide now: are we scaring Coran?” He’s smiling, and when Romelle looks over at Keith she finds that his eyes are sparkling with mischief too.

She and Keith lock eyes and nod. Shiro nods too, then holds up three fingers.

 _Two,_ he mouths, folding one down.

_One._

All three of them run for it, bursting out of the hallway and crashing into Coran with loud yells. Coran shrieks and flails at them before he realizes who it is. Romelle gets an elbow to the face, but she’s laughing. The wolf, sitting at Krolia’s feet, raises his head and barks, and Keith immediately ditches their little tangle of limbs to crouch in front of him, scratching under his chin.

“What in the name of Altea are you three doing?” Coran demands. His eyes are bright with laughter, though, so Romelle grins at him cheekily.

“It was Shiro’s idea!” she says, pointing. Shiro gives her a look of outrage. She grins at him too before slipping past to stand by Krolia, muttering “Everyone for themselves,” as she goes. Krolia gives her a fond smile and ruffles her hair.

—

Krolia watches as Shriro tries to defend himself to Coran, both of them laughing too much to actually sound angry or defensive. Romelle watches them too, from beside her. She’s smiling. All of them look more light and carefree than they have in days.

“Hey,” Keith says, still crouched by the wolf. “I was thinking. I’m gonna go spend some time with the Blue Lion. It’s— we haven’t really bonded yet, and I think it would be good for us, y’know?”

Krolia turns her smile toward him. “I think that’s a great idea, Keith. Do you want to take the wolf with you? He’s been following me around all morning, I think he’s getting bored.”

Keith gives the wolf another scratch under the chin, then gets to his feet. “Yeah, sure.” He clicks his tongue. “Come on, boy!” The wolf stands up, tail wagging, and follows Keith as he leaves.

“I should go, too,” Romelle says quietly. “I wanted to chat with the Aelehrs about their medical practices.” Shiro looks over at this, eyebrows raised. Romelle shrugs at him. “What? I wasn’t totally lying when I said I thought it was interesting.”

“I can help you find them!” Coran says. “And I’ll have time to tell you all about the architecture in these buildings! It’s absolutely incredible!” He leads her away with an arm around her shoulders, already starting in on the lecture he’d been giving Krolia about structural supports and sustainable building materials. Romelle actually looks intrigued, nodding along as he talks.

“So,” Krolia says once they’re gone, “what was that surprise attack?”

Shiro shrugs. “They were feeling kinda down about some things. I thought I might try to cheer them up with some good old-fashioned shenanigans.”

Krolia huffs out a laugh. Then, “And what about you?” Shiro makes a questioning noise, so she elaborates, “How are you doing? You’ve been having a bit of a stressful time lately.”

Shiro shrugs again. “I’m fine, really. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Krolia fixes him with a serious stare, waiting until she has his full attention before speaking. “Shiro,” she says, “you may not be related to me by blood, but you are Keith’s brother. That means I care about you as my son, too. Alright? So if anything’s bothering you, anything at all, I want you to know that you can always talk to me about it.”

Shiro relaxes, giving her a sincere smile. “Thank you. A lot. But I’m serious, I’m doing pretty okay.” He pauses. “The one-arm thing’s a bit tough to get used to,” he admits, “but I’m managing.”

She smiles at him, reaching out to pat his shoulder. “That’s good to hear. Now, do you want to hear everything Coran told me about these buildings? It’s quite fascinating, if a little overwhelming.”

Shiro looks around. “Well,” he says, “I used to be a teacher, so I guess I can’t turn down a bit of learning, huh?”

—

As Keith, Shiro, and Romelle leave the breakfast table, Allura glances over at Lance and motions towards them, mouthing _What?_

Lance shrugs, then leans over to whisper, “What?”

“Where are they going?” she whispers back. “Why did they leave like that?”

Lance looks over. Allura looks too, and catches Romelle looking back at her. She looks away quickly, speeding up to walk next to Keith, and doesn’t look back again.

“I don’t know!” Lance whispers. “I’m not telepathic!” Then, “You don’t think…”

“I don’t think what?”

“Well. We walked in here together. And we fell asleep in the same room last night. You don’t think that _they_ think…”

“That we’re together? Oh, dear.”

“Yeah, that’s a bit of a wrench in these plans, huh.”

Allura slumps back in her chair. “How do we make it clear we’re not? I don’t want Romelle to think I’m spoken for!”

Lance shrugs. “Honestly? I have no idea. Apart from maybe marching up to her and telling her you’re single—,” he snaps his fingers suddenly. “Just tell her you’re single! But be smooth about it. Casual.”

Allura nods, relieved. “That works, I think that works.”

Lance reaches over for a high five. Allura slaps her palm against his. He hesitates as he draws his hand back, then says, “You’re fine with this whole Keith thing, right? Only, I don’t want it to screw up the team.”

Allura raises her eyebrows at him. “I told you already, Lance, I may not be on the absolute best of terms with Keith right now, but that is something I promise I will try to work through with him. Not just for the sake of your feelings, but for the sake of the team. I’m trying to empathize with him, even if he and I have different priorities.”

Lance smiles at her. “Thanks, Allura.”

She smiles back at him. “In the words of a very dear friend, ‘Don’t mention it.’” This time, Lance laughs.

“There’s something else I’ve been thinking about, too,” he says, as Allura resumes eating. She hums at him around a mouthful of food, nodding at him to continue. “So, we’re bringing Shiro with us when we go, right? Instead of leaving him here to recover? For sure?” Another nod. “Okay, good. But how is that gonna affect our travel plans? We’re probably gonna need to slow down, or at least have a system in place for checking in with him to make sure he’s actually doing okay. I know Romelle said she has basic medical training, and she seems to want to ask the Aelehrs about how they helped Shiro, so we’re at least likely to have someone who knows what to do if something happens to him. Hunk, Pidge, Keith, and I all know basic first aid too, from the Garrison. And I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to assume Krolia also knows some. But still, you never know, right?”

Allura leans her elbows on the table, thinking. “You’re right,” she says. “I feel slowing down may be our best option, as well as making more frequent stops until we can be certain Shiro’s back to full health and fully adjusted to the clone body.” She taps her fingers against her chin. “I don’t know how we’d go about checking in with Shiro in a way that would ensure his honesty, though. It’s not that I don’t trust him, but he does seem to hide when he’s struggling, doesn’t he?”

Lance nods. “Yeah, I guess he just doesn’t wanna make us worry. So, yeah, we’d definitely have to figure out a course of action for that. Other than that though, do you think we should talk to the others about slowing down and adjusting our route for more stops? We’ll need their navigational skills to help us out, especially since Coran, Romelle, Hunk, and Pidge were the ones who plotted out our original course. Or maybe just adjust for flexibility, so we can go back to travelling fast once Shiro’s back at a hundred percent…” He trails off, leaning back in his chair and muttering to himself a little. Allura just watches him, smiling a little.

“I’m glad to have you as my second-in-command, Lance,” she says suddenly. Lance looks up, startled, as she continues. “I know that I know how to be a leader, but I’m trained in military and diplomacy and politics. You— you understand this team on a different level. I’m grateful that you’re here to help me.”

Lance smiles at her, eyes glistening a little. “Thanks, Allura,” he says, a little raspy. “That— that means a lot to me.”

Allura smiles back. “Now,” she says, “about our route…”

—

The wolf sniffs around the Blue Lion’s cockpit curiously. Keith knows he’s been in here before, with Krolia, but he pokes his nose around like it’s a brand new place to explore. Keith smiles fondly before taking a seat in the pilot’s chair. He reaches out and lays his hands on the controls, feeling the Blue Lion wake up around him.

“Hey, girl,” he says quietly. “I, uh, I thought maybe we could hang out for a bit.” Her responding growl sounds like a laugh. He laughs too. “Yeah, I’m not as much of a sweet-talker as Lance, sorry. I’m not really the best at this.” This time he feels the nudge of her mind against his, something gentle and kind and encouraging.

He clears his throat. “So, um. How have you been? I know it’s been kind of a stressful few days for everyone, huh? You holding up okay?” She sends him contentment for herself, and a tinge of amusement at his question, but with an undercurrent of worry. “You’re worried? About— about Allura, right? She was your paladin before me.” Acknowledgment, so he’s right. “She’s doing pretty okay. I think. I don’t know how well she’s settling in being the Black Lion’s paladin, but I think she’ll do great. She, uh. She and Lance seem to be getting pretty close.” Curiosity, which shifts quickly into what Keith can only describe as ‘the face Shiro makes when Keith talks about his crushes, but as an emotion’. So nosy-older-sibling, if that were a feeling. He groans. “Come on, I’ve been over this so many times in the past few days, I don’t wanna do it again! Besides, I’ll get over it. Lance doesn’t owe me his feelings, even if I’ve been carrying a torch for him for years. Or if I’ve spent two years having visions of a future where we’re together and happy and we get married—”

The Blue Lion growls, giving a jolt. Keith tightens his grip on the controls, then relaxes when she doesn’t move anymore.

“Sorry,” he says. “I’m not over it just yet. But I will be soon, promise.”

The Blue Lion growls again, this time accompanied by a shove against his mind. She’s trying to talk to him. Keith closes his eyes and breathes deeply, in through his nose and out through his mouth. He clears his mind, relaxes his muscles, lets everything around him fall away until he feels it.

Standing in the middle of a vast, dark expanse is the Blue Lion, in all her glory. Her eyes flash as she lowers her head. Keith feels himself reach up and place his hands on her snout.

“Hey, girl,” he whispers.

 _Little paladin,_ she whispers back.

He opens his eyes with a gasp, grinning. In his mind, he can feel the Blue Lion, so much stronger than before. _Hello,_ he thinks at her.

He feels the affectionate nudge of her consciousness. _Hello,_ she says back.

Keith laughs, sudden and loud in the silence of the cockpit. The wolf comes over to him, intrigued by the sudden noise. Keith grins down at him, reaching out to scratch between his ears.

“Hey, boy,” he says, giddy. “I’m the Blue Paladin.”

 

“Y’know, I used to think it was really ironic that I got made the Guardian Spirit of Fire,” Keith says, sitting cross-legged in the pilot’s chair. The wolf is curled up on the ground next to him, ears pricked up, both he and the Blue Lion listening to Keith talk. “My dad died in a fire, did you know? He was a firefighter. For the longest time in was just him and me out there in the desert. Until Shiro and Adam took me in.” He sighs. “And then Shiro disappeared, and I left, and I started finding you.” He lays a hand on the dashboard in front of him. “My mom and dad found you first, though, a really long time ago.” He feels curiosity from her, so he focuses hard on thinking of his dad’s face. She responds with familiarity and warmth.

 _A nice man,_ she says. _That’s why you felt so familiar._

Keith sits up straight. “My dad bonded with you?”

_No. Took care of me. He was kind. I miss him._

“Yeah, girl,” Keith says quietly, feeling a sudden stinging behind his eyes. “Me too. It’s been a long time, but sometimes it feels like— like— I don’t expect him to be gone, and then I remember—” His voice breaks.

He feels her mind wrap around his, comforting. _Grief is not easy._

He scrubs at his eyes, letting out a bitter laugh. “No, it isn’t.”

—

Hunk wakes up to a knocking at his door. He grumbles his way out of bed, yawning as he opens it.

“Hey, Lance.”

“Hey,” Lance says. “Uh, me and Allura were talking, we think we might need to make some changes to our route home. We’re getting everyone to meet up in her room so we can talk about it.”

Hunk nods through another yawn. “Cool. Gimme a sec to change.” He gestures at the pajamas their hosts gave him. They’re very comfortable. Hunk thinks he’ll keep them.

Lance nods. “I’ll just wait out here,” he says, rocking back onto his heels.

Hunk closes the door and rummages for his clothes, humming as he changes. Lance is waiting outside when Hunk steps into the hallway, just like he said he would be.

“So,” Hunk says, “you and Allura talked about it, huh?” He smiles at Lance, sly. “How’d you get her to listen to you?”

Lance narrows his eyes. “She asked for my opinion. Coran said we’re basically Voltron’s co-leaders now. So, we’re co-leading. That means talking to each other about what we’re thinking about for the team.”

Hunk nods. “Mm-hm. And this has nothing to do with her just... humouring your feelings for her?”

Lance stops abruptly. “No,” he says icily, “it doesn’t. I don’t know why you and Pidge have it in your heads that I’m some kind of vapid, Allura-obsessed dummy, but I’m not. Okay? Allura asked me for my opinion because I’m the paladin of the Red Lion. _I’m_ Voltron’s right hand. That’s it. Allura’s my friend, and I respect her as my leader, and she’s not doing anything out of pity for me because she knows my feelings for her are gone. You know why? Because she actually _listens_ to me!”

Hunk flinches as Lance raises his voice. He takes a second to look at Lance. He’s breathing hard, eyes bright and wet, but he looks fierce and determined. Hunk opens his mouth to speak, but Lance cuts him off.

“Allura’s in her room. You know where it is. I’m going to go get the others.” He turns on his heel and leaves. Hunk stands there, watching him go.

—

Lance doesn’t waste time in waking Pidge and telling her to go to Allura’s room. He doesn’t answer her questions, just saying it’s for a meeting. It’s probably unfair to her, he knows, but he’s not in the mood to talk to her or Hunk right now, not after what Hunk said.

It’s not funny, no matter how much they think it is. It makes him feel like _shit,_ and he hates it so much.

He goes off in search of Keith next. He’s not in his room, or in Shiro’s, or Krolia’s, or Romelle’s. Lance goes outside, walking towards where the Lions stand in a circle. He feels Red reach out to him.

 _Hey, girl,_ he thinks at her.

_You are agitated. Why?_

He shakes his head as he draws near, putting a hand on her massive paw. “It’s nothing,” he says out loud. He feels her mind nudge against his, insistent. “Okay,” he says. “It’s not nothing. I’ll tell you about it later, I promise. Right now, I need to find Keith.”

She nudges his mind, then says, _Blue Lion._

“Thanks, girl.”

The Blue Lion lowers her head as he approaches. She opens her jaw, ramp lowering to let Keith out, his wolf trotting behind him. “Hey,” Keith says. “Blue said you were here. Is everything okay?”

Lance shrugs. “Yeah. Me and Allura were thinking we might need to make some changes to our route, though, so I’m gathering everyone up to meet in her room so we can all talk about it.”

“Ah.” Keith nods. He falls into step next to Lance. “So,” he says, “you and Allura, huh?”

Lance bristles. “Are you also gonna say she’s just pitying me? Because I’ve had about enough of that today, really.”

“No, no.” Keith reaches out and puts a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “I was just, y’know, wondering how you two were doing. I, uh, I’m happy for you guys.”

Lance stops, blinking. “What?”

Keith looks at him, brow furrowed. “You two. Congratulations on your relationship. I’m happy for you.”

Lance laughs, sudden and startled. “Oh, no, Keith. It’s— we’re not together. We’re both, uh, single and ready to mingle.” He shoots finger guns at Keith reflexively, then resists the urge to smack himself. That was weird. It was a weird thing to do. He hopes Keith won’t mention it.

“Oh,” Keith says awkwardly. “Sorry.”

Lance shrugs, reaching out and tugging Keith’s arm to get him to start walking again. “Don’t be. We talked about it, y’know. But we both think we’re better off as friends and as teammates. And besides,” he chances a glance at Keith out of the corner of his eye, “we’re both kind of… pursuing other people right now.”

Keith blinks. “Oh.” He clears his throat. “Um. I hope. It goes well? For both of you?”

Lance chuckles, clapping a hand on Keith’s back. “Thanks, buddy.” The wolf barks.

 

The others are a bit harder to track down than Hunk, Pidge, and Keith were. Lance and Keith come across Romelle and Coran first, tracking them down after they remember Romelle saying she wanted to learn about medicine on this planet. They’re in the hospital wing, near where Shiro had been staying before he was moved to a regular room like the rest of them.

Romelle is chatting with one of the Aelehrs, eyes sparkling as they answer her questions. Coran stands beside her, looking just as excited as he, too, soaks up the information they’re hearing. Lance sees Keith smile fondly at Romelle when she notices the two of them.

“Hey!” She waves as she and Coran come over. She runs over and gives Keith a hug. Lance laughs a bit at the momentary startlement that crosses Keith’s face before he hugs her back. “What are you guys doing here?” She crouches down to pet the wolf. He rolls over, tongue lolling out when she rubs his belly.

“Lance and Allura wanna talk about making some changes to our route,” Keith says, shooting Lance a smile. “We’re gathering everyone up to meet in Allura’s room. Do you know where Mom and Shiro are?”

Romelle cocks her head, standing up. “Not nearby, that’s for sure.” At Lance’s curious glance, she explains, “I can’t hear them. And if I can’t, then Keith definitely can’t either.”

“Hey, that’s rude!” Keith exclaims, pulling her against his side and ruffling her hair.

“It’s the truth,” she says, sticking her tongue out at him. She ducks away before he can retaliate, hiding behind Lance. “Didn’t you say we still need to find Shiro and Krolia? Let’s go do that.”

 

Shiro and Krolia take a bit more searching to find, until the wolf perks up and barks, racing ahead of them. They all follow, running to keep up, and see him leap to greet Krolia. She laughs.

“Hey, Keith,” Shiro says. “I think your wolf thinks your mom is cooler than you.” Keith snorts at aims a half-hearted punch at Shiro’s side. Lance hangs back a bit and watches as Keith explains that they’re all meeting in Allura’s room. He feels a pang of loneliness, seeing the easy way Keith and Shiro interact. It’s been so long since he’s seen his own siblings. He blinks hard, willing the burn behind his eyes to go away. It’s all the more reason to be getting home quickly. He’ll see them soon.

Krolia falls into step beside him as they all head towards Allura’s room. “Everything okay?” she asks quietly, the glance she casts at him full of concern. He shrugs.

“I guess,” he says, and then admits, “it could be better.”

She reaches out and gives his shoulder a firm pat. “If you ever want to talk, Lance, I’m here. Please don’t hesitate.” Her eyes are earnest and kind. Lance smiles at her.

“Sure thing.”

—

“It’s quite fascinating, actually, the kind of research they’re doing on quintessence. They’re not at the level of fully understanding consciousness transfers yet, but there’s enough studies on the effects of quintessence itself to form theories, especially if we agree to send them periodic updates on Shiro’s health for the near future.” Romelle bounces a bit as she chatters on. Keith nods, smiling. Some of the stuff she’s saying is going over his head, if only because he’s trained in flying and strategy and not science or healing, but what he does understand sounds interesting. And besides, Romelle’s enthusiastic about it.

“What kind of updates?” he asks. As interesting (and, according to Romelle, potentially groundbreaking) as this could be, he still wants to be cautious before giving anyone sensitive information about his brother. The Garrison’s year of coverups after Kerberos has given him a healthy sense of paranoia when it comes to protecting Shiro.

“The basics,” Romelle says. She starts ticking things off on her fingers. “Blood pressure, temperature, any instances of sickness, and anything else Shiro thinks is out of the ordinary. He mentioned he’s got Kuron’s memories in addition to his own, so if anything about that changes or feels different, we’d probably update on that too. Just how he’s adjusting to a new body in general.”

Keith nods, satisfied. “That doesn’t sound too bad. I’m sure we could do it if Shiro agrees.” Romelle grins at him.

That grin is turned toward Allura as they enter her room. Allura’s sitting upright on her bed, legs criss-crossed underneath herself. Romelle goes to sit next to her. The wolf jumps up and settles himself across both their laps, nudging Allura in a demand for head-scratches. Hunk and Pidge are sprawled on fluffy cushions on the floor. Keith notices the glances all three of the room’s occupants send towards Lance; Allura’s full of concern, Hunk’s and Pidge’s more cautious. Lance doesn’t meet Pidge or Hunk’s eyes, but he gives Allura a quick tight smile and sits down on her mattress, near the foot of her bed. He pulls Keith down with him. Krolia sits gently on the edge. Shiro and Coran join Hunk and Pidge on the floor cushions, Shiro letting out a contented sigh as he sinks into his.

Allura claps her hands once. “Alright, everyone,” she says, presence commanding even in the relaxed atmosphere of her bedroom. “Lance and I have been discussing our plans for our journey to Earth. We’ve agreed that it may be wise to adjust our route for more frequent stops until we can be sure that Shiro is fully healed.” Shiro opens his mouth, probably to argue, but Allura holds up a hand to stop him. “This is not up for debate, Shiro. Although you may not be a Paladin of Voltron right now, you are still undoubtedly a valuable part of this team. We will not be compromising your health.” Shiro frowns a little.

“You guys shouldn’t feel like you have to worry about me,” he says. Lance turns to face him fully.

“We’re not worrying because we feel like we have to, Shiro,” he says. “We’re worrying because we care about you. You mean a lot to all of us, so we want to make sure you’re okay for our journey.” He looks around at everyone else in the room, eyes stopping on Hunk and Pidge for a beat longer. “That goes for everyone. We’re all a team, and that means we take care of each other, no matter what,” he says firmly. Allura backs him up with a decisive nod.

Pidge clears her throat. “So why call a meeting for everyone?”

Allura looks over at her. “Lance and I agreed it would be best to consult the rest of the team before making any concrete decisions. In addition, Lance pointed out that you, Hunk, Romelle, and Coran were the ones who originally plotted out our route, and would therefore have the best opinions on how and where it may be changed to suit our needs.”

Pidge blinks. “Oh.” She shoots a glance towards Lance, one that Keith can’t quite read, before exchanging looks with Hunk. “So, uh, what’s the plan then? What are we looking for in a new route?”

Lance sits up straighter. “First of all, I figured we’d need more frequent stops on populated planets, so we can find places to stay overnight and rest up. If we can confirm that they have medical facilities equipped to work with quintessence-related conditions that would be a huge plus, but I’m not sure how easy it would be to find that out. We basically want a more flexible route, one that’ll let us slow down and speed up as we need to. So, we don’t need to stop on _every_ planet along the way, but it would be a good idea to have at least a few options within easy access just in case we need to.”

“These stops also give us the advantage of spreading the news of Voltron’s return,” Allura says. “The universe needs to know that there is still hope, and that there always will be.”

Keith feels a sense of awe creep over him at how easily Lance and Allura hand off explanation and orders between each other. He understands now, he thinks, what Coran meant by the Red Paladin being Voltron’s right hand in a way he never did when that was his position, even when Shiro was their leader.

Part of him feels a twinge of jealousy at their effortless chemistry and camaraderie, but then he remembers Lance saying _we’re both kind of… pursuing other people right now,_ and feels his jealousy replaced by something that feels a little too much like hope to be good for his heart.

—

As eager as he is to really start on the journey back home, Shiro has to admit to himself that he’s a little sad about leaving the Aelehrs. Only, they’ve been so kind not only to him, but to everyone on the team. The paladins are all looking healthy and well-rested, and Shiro wishes they could stay and enjoy that a little longer.

But Allura and Lance suggested they should leave in the morning and the rest of the team agreed, so here they are saying their goodbyes to the Council.

“Thank you again for all your help,” Shiro says, bowing his head. “It means a lot to me. To all of us.”

“Do not worry yourself with it,” one of the Council members says. “We have told you already, it is our honour to assist the Paladins of Voltron in any way possible, and to be able to count ourselves among your allies.”

A little ways away, Pidge is discussing communications with the planet, in order to provide their medical and research personnel with ongoing updates on Shiro’s recovery. Shiro doesn’t understand all of it, but he caught a bit of the explanation Romelle gave Keith the day before and he’s more than happy to help with their research.

Lance is leading Kaltenecker into the Red Lion’s cargo hold with bales of hay and some of the fresh food the Aelehrs gifted him. The cow moos mournfully, looking over her shoulder at the grassy expanse she’s been grazing on for the past movement (movement and a half? Shiro’s not entirely sure, he’s spent a lot of time sleeping). “I know, girl,” Lance is saying gently, “but look! They gave you food to remember them by!” She moos again, finally ambling behind him into the cargo hold.

All five paladins plus Coran, Krolia, and Shiro group up and say their final farewells. Allura shakes each of the Council members’ hands firmly. “We cannot thank you enough for your help,” she says. “It has been immensely valuable to us.” Beside her, Lance nods.

“If you guys ever need anything, you know how to contact us,” he says. “We’ll do our best to help you in your time of need, just like you helped us.”

One of the Council members bows their head, spreading their arms as they address the whole team. “And you are always welcome with us. We hope we may be able to aid Voltron and its allies again.”

—

“‘Pursuing other people’?” Romelle says. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Keith pretends not to feel Shiro and Krolia’s glares as soon as the cuss leaves Romelle’s mouth. “I don’t know!” he says, keeping his eyes fixed forward. He feels an undercurrent of Blue’s amusement in his mind. “I mean, obviously it means that they’re not interested in each other, but that’s not a guarantee, y’know?”

“Have you considered just asking them?’ Krolia asks, visibly tired of this conversation. Keith feels kind of bad, casting a glance at where she’s sitting against the wall of Blue’s cockpit. But also this is a pressing matter of the heart, and Keith and Romelle need advice.

“No,” he says. “We can’t just _do_ that!”

Krolia raises an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“Because, that’s just— we just can’t! That’s like putting all our cards on the table, it’s a recipe for getting your heart broken!”

“You never know if you don’t try,” Shiro says. The smile he shoots at Keith and Romelle makes it clear he finds this very entertaining.

Keith scowls. “Shut up, Shiro. You never would’ve told Adam how you felt if he didn’t ask you out first.”

“Don’t speak to your brother like that,” Krolia says, but without any real bite in her voice.

“Be quiet, Shiro,” Keith amends. “Your input is not appreciated at this time.” Shiro snorts.

“What about you, Krolia?” Romelle asks. “Did you confess to Keith’s father, or was it the other way around?”

Krolia’s expression changes, eyes softening with love and sadness the way they always do when she talks about Keith’s dad. “It was more mutual, really. Neither of us confessed so much as we just knew, and then talked about it. I told him I loved him first, though.”

Keith feels a sad smile curve his mouth. Not for the first time, he wishes he could’ve seen both his parents together in the same place and same time, in his dad’s little shack in the middle of the Arizona desert, somewhere other than in his mother’s memories.

—

Lance waits until they’ve been flying for a bit before taking a deep breath and opening a private comm channel to the Yellow Lion. Hunk’s face fills the holo-screen, the Altean mice perched on his shoulders.

“Hey, man,” Hunk says. “Uh, everything good?”

“Yeah.” Lance nods slowly. “I just, uh, wanted to apologize. For blowing up at you yesterday. I shouldn’t be letting things get to me like that.” He takes one hand off the controls to rub at the back of his neck, looking away from Hunk’s face.

Hunk is silent for a moment. “You don’t need to apologize,” he says eventually. “You were right. Me and Pidge… we’ve kinda been dicks to you. I’m really sorry, Lance, and I know she is, too. And honestly… you don’t have to forgive us for that. It was shitty of us to talk to you like that, and even shittier not to notice how much you hate it. So yeah. Sorry.”

Lance blinks, a lump rising in his throat. “Thanks, Hunk,” he says quietly.

Hunk shrugs. “You don’t have to thank me. It’s our fault.” He lapses into silence for a moments, then, “But _can_ I ask about Allura? I mean, you’ve made it clear that you’re both friends now and that you don’t have feelings for her anymore, but you did at some point, right? I mean, it’s not like you hid it at all.”

Lance shrugs one shoulder. “Yeah, but that was just kind of… I don’t know. I really liked her, but I kind of, I guess, realized that maybe we. Just wouldn’t fit? I’m not what she needs. And if I’m being honest, she’s not what I need, either. And that’s okay. She’s my friend and my teammate and my leader, and I trust her with my life. That’s more important than being in a romantic relationship with her.” He glances over at Hunk’s face on the screen.

“That’s… really insightful of you, Lance,” Hunk says. “For the record? I’m glad you’ve got each others backs. And ours. We’ve got your back too from now on, I promise.”

Lance smiles. “Thanks, buddy.”

—

Keith’s wolf, cute as he is, is an absolute menace when he’s cooped up inside for too long. Allura has learned this the hard way, after vargas of flying. Coran took the wolf down to the cargo hold in an effort to give him some space to play, but the video feed shows the poor animal becoming moody and aggressive. She sighs, opening a comm channel to the Blue Lion.

“Keith,” she says as soon as his face shows up on the screen. “Your wolf is becoming agitated, I think because he’s been in such a small space for so long. What do I do to help him?”

“Um,” Keith says, “I usually just try to talk to him a bit. See if there’s some slightly more open spaces you can get him in. Can— can you describe how exactly he’s acting?”

Allura nods. “Coran took him to the cargo hold to play but,” she casts a glance toward the video feed, “he’s currently backed himself into a corner and is growling. He tries to bite every time Coran gets near him.”

Keith’s brow furrows in worry. “Do you think he’ll listen if you try to tell him to come to me?”

“I can try,” Allura says, before switching over to the cargo hold feed. “Coran,” she says, do you think you can tell the wolf to go to Keith? Or, actually, let me patch Keith in to talk to him directly.”

She adjusts the comm connection to allow Keith to speak directly to Black’s cargo hold. “Hey, boy,” he says, voice low and soothing. “Hey, it’s okay. Do you wanna come here? You know where I am, right?” Allura keeps an eye on the video feed, seeing the way the wolf relaxes at the sound of Keith’s voice before straightening up and disappearing in a flash of light.

“Did he make it to the Blue Lion?” she asks immediately.

“Yeah,” Keith says, looking over his shoulder. “He’s here.” He looks back at Allura. “Thanks, Allura. Mom and Romelle and Shiro will try to help him.”

“It’s no problem, Keith,” she says. “Let me know if he gets better.”

Allura hears the wolf growl loudly from off-screen an instant before the Black Lion’s sensors go off. She pulls back on the thrusters and spins her around. Galra ships appear around the Lions, out of nowhere. “Paladins, get in formation!” she yells to them.

The Lions circle up, back to back, as the ships start shooting. “How’d they get the drop on us?” Lance shouts over the comm.

“I don’t know,” Allura says. “And we don’t have the time to find out.” She narrowly dodges one blast, then pushes the Green Lion out of the way of another. Pidge nods at her screen in thanks. “Just focus on destroying those ships. And don’t get hit; they’ve got heavy artillery and they seem _very_ determined to use it.”

“You got it, boss.” She can hear Lance’s cocky grin without even looking at her screen. He opens fire, taking out a swath of ships on his own, but the gap is filled by more.

“Pidge, Keith, you two back up Lance. Hunk, you and I will defend them.” Allura barks out her orders quickly, not pausing for breath as she rams the Black Lion against a ship coming up on Lance’s rear. Its hull crumples between Black’s jaws, and she can feel her Lion’s satisfaction. Hunk follows her lead, the two of them acting as battering rams against the ships as Lance, Keith, and Pidge weave around them, firing nonstop.

The next several minutes are a rush of adrenaline and yelled orders. Coran comes up from the cargo hold, bracing himself using the back of the pilot’s chair and pointing out gaps in the Galra ships’ defenses for the paladins to exploit. By the time they’re done, the Lions are floating among the wreckage of the ships and Allura can feel sweat dripping down her forehead. The paladins’ heavy breathing comes through the comms, as loud as her own. She can feel her pulse jumping in her whole body, can hear the blood rushing in her ears.

“Everyone sound off,” she says when she finally finds her voice again. She goes first. “Allura here, with Coran.”

“Lance here, with Kaltenecker.”

“Pidge here.”

“Hunk here, with the mice.”

“Keith here, with Shiro, Krolia, Romelle, and the wolf.”

Allura nods. “How are we all doing? Any pressing damages or injuries?”

“The wolf’s spooked,” Keith says. “But we’re calming him down. He should be okay soon.”

“I think one of the blasts grazed the Yellow Lion,” Hunk says. “It doesn’t seem too bad right now, she can still fly. But I’ll keep you guys updated.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to land and check it out?” Lance asks, the worry evident in his voice.

Allura sees Hunk shake his head on-screen. “She says she’s okay for now, but she’ll tell me if it gets worse. Thanks, though.”

“Don’t mention it,” Lance says. “Everyone else doing okay?”

There’s a chorus of affirmative answers from everyone. Allura nods to herself. “Alright then,” she says. “We’ll continue on our route. If any trouble arises, open the comms. If we fly fast, we’ll be able to land in just under a quintant from now.” She waits until everyone else disconnects before disconnecting as well, then leans back in the pilot’s chair with a tired sigh.

Coran lays a hand on Allura’s shoulder. “Are you alright, princess?”

“No,” she confesses. “I don’t think I am, Coran.” She pauses. “I’m worried about them. The Yellow Lion got hurt. Keith’s wolf is anxious and terrified. Shiro isn’t back to full health. And Lance hasn’t fully worked things out with Pidge and Hunk yet. I knew being this team’s leader was going to be difficult job, but I didn’t quite anticipate how emotionally taxing it would be.”

Coran squeezes Allura’s shoulder. “I wish you didn’t feel like you need to do this alone. I’m supposed to be your advisor, Allura. Please, let me.”

Allura reaches up to cover his hand with her own. “I’ll try,” she whispers. Coran drops a light kiss onto the crown of her head.

—

The Yellow Lion starts to slow down barely a varga before they’re about to reach one of the Blade of Marmora bases on their route. Hunk tries his best to get her to keep up with the others, but the increasing volume of her pained growls in his head makes him throw in the towel.

“Sorry, girl,” he whispers, opening a comm channel. Allura and Lance’s faces pop up on the screen. “Hey,” Hunk says, not waiting for either of them to speak. “Yellow’s really starting to struggle with this speed and I don’t know how to help her. I didn’t wanna slow us down, but I don’t know how much longer she can keep going like this.”

Allura nods. “Give me just a tick. I’ll ask Pidge what we can do about getting to the Marmora base without putting too much strain on Yellow. In the meantime, do you think it would help if some of us flew alongside you and supported her?”

Hunk feels the Lion’s rumble of affirmation in his mind. “Yeah,” he says, “she thinks so.”

Allura nods again and disconnects. Lance is already maneuvering Red up against Yellow’s injured side, slowly and carefully. He must open another comm channel, because Keith’s face also pops up on Hunk’s screen. “Keith,” Lance says, “I need you to support Yellow’s other side until we land.” Keith nods without hesitation. Hunk feels Yellow steady a little as Lance and Keith’s Lions support her. He breathes a sigh of relief.

“Thanks, guys. From both of us.”

“Don’t mention it, buddy,” Lance says. “We got you, so don’t worry about a thing.”

All three of them stay silent until Allura links up to their comms again. “Pidge suggests keeping up our current pace for now. Hunk, you and Yellow might find it easier if you turn off your thrusters and let Keith and Lance support you fully.”

Hunk nods, hesitant. He doesn’t want to put all that pressure on them, but Yellow needs it. “Alright,” he says, reaching over to flick a switch on his dashboard, “doing that now.”

Instantly, Yellow feels lighter. She sends a wave of warmth and gratitude at him. Allura smiles and disconnects, and there’s silence again. It’s a little awkward, with Lance and Keith focused on supporting the Yellow Lion and Hunk not really knowing what to do with himself. He kind of wants to talk to both of them, especially Lance. Even though they talked earlier, Hunk wants to check in again. He still feels terrible after realizing how he’s been treating someone who’s supposed to be  his best friend. And without even noticing it! But Keith and Lance are zoned in on what they’re doing and besides, maybe it’s better to talk to Lance about this in private.

It doesn’t take long to get there after that, with Yellow relaxed and Keith and Lance taking the wheel. The landing is a bit unsteady. Allura and Pidge have to help out with it, the Black Lion carefully holding Yellow like she’s a kitten while the other three support her from the bottom and gently bring her down. They have a welcoming party at the base, who Krolia goes to speak to while the rest of the team crowds around the Yellow Lion.

Pidge carefully climbs up to Yellow’s shoulder, where the wound is. “It looks— well, it doesn’t look _terrible,”_ she calls down at them. “But it doesn’t look too great, either.”

“Is she gonna be okay?” Hunk asks, running a hand over one of her paws. Keith’s wolf whines quietly, butting Hunk’s hand with his head. Hunk takes the hint, gently tangling his fingers in the thick blue fur on top of the wolf’s head.

Pidge leaps down easily, landing in a crouch and straightening up. “I think so, yeah,” she says. “It’ll take a bit to fix her up, but you and I can get it done in no time. No need to worry, big guy.” Hunk’s shoulders relax a little at the news.

And then tense up again as Krolia comes back with a Blade he doesn’t recognize. “Menar has agreed to send word ahead to other Marmora bases so we can access them easily for the rest of our journey.”

The Blade— Menar— nods. “You are welcome to use Marmora channels for communication if necessary.” She smiles. “It’s good to hear that you’re back.”

“Yeah, that seems to be the general sentiment,” Keith murmurs. Menar reaches over and ruffles his hair.

“I’m glad to see you safe, cub,” she says. Keith bats her hand away, combing his fingers through his hair and smoothing it back down.

“Yeah, you too,” he says, ducking his head. Hunk catches Shiro smiling at him out of the corner of his eye. Keith notices it too, and scowls at his brother. As the team follows Menar into the base, Shiro leans down to whisper something to Keith. Hunk can’t hear what he’s saying, but he does see Keith elbow Shiro in the side, and hears Shiro’s laughter.

Romelle falls into step next to him. “Have you ever been in a Marmora base?” she asks.

Hunk shakes his head. “Nope. Only Keith and Krolia have, I think. And Shiro.” He looks around, taking in the utilitarian appearance of the building. “Doesn’t seem all that friendly, does it?”

Romelle nods, following his gaze. “I kind of can’t believe Keith managed to spend so much time in one of these,” she says quietly.

Hunk thinks about it, being away from the team for ages with barely any contact, having to stay in a place this cold, both in temperature and in mood. From what he knows about how the Blade of Marmora operates, Keith wouldn’t have had any chances to bond with any of the people here. “It must’ve been lonely,” he murmurs. He looks at Keith’s back ahead of him, walking next to Shiro and shoving his brother and laughing. Hunk sighs. “We’re not that much of a team, are we?” he asks, thinking out loud.

“What do you mean?”

Hunk shrugs one shoulder. “Pidge and I didn’t even realize how we were treating Lance until he was pushed to the edge of blowing up about it. And I’ve never even considered how hard it must’ve been for Keith to be alone, especially without his brother, for so long. It’s just—,” he shrugs again, “if we were a good team, we’d be able to pick up on these things, you know? I’m only just realizing how distant we all are from each other.”

“Not all of you,” Romelle says, thoughtful. “Lance and Allura are close. They trust each other to help lead the team, and that’s why they work so well together. And there’s something similar like that with Lance and Keith, where they trust each other to have their backs. Keith and Shiro seem like they’ve always had that kind of trust, which is understandable since they’re siblings. Shiro and Allura trust each other too, to some extent. They both have led this team, although in different capacities, and they know they can rely on each other. And you and Pidge have this kind of easy chemistry where you can throw ideas around and make something great out of them without even having to communicate fully, like you’re psychic.” She shrugs. “Maybe it’s not that you’re all distant from each other. Maybe you’re just fragmented, like puzzle pieces that haven’t quite figured out how they fit together yet.”

Hunk looks down at her. “You’re really perceptive, Romelle, you know that?”

Romelle preens a little. “I like paying attention to details.”

—

Something about this Marmora base puts Keith more at ease than other ones have in the past. If he really wants to psychoanalyze himself, he might say it’s because he has his team and his family with him this time, instead of being all alone in an unfamiliar place. It probably helps that Menar was their welcoming party. She’s nice and warm and calming, unlike some of the other Blades.

She’s talking to Coran as she leads them farther into the base. They’re headed toward the central hub first, so everyone else on the base knows that they’re here, and then they’re gonna be given somewhere to rest in the barracks. That’s the part Keith’s not super excited about. He’s not a huge fan of the barracks. They’re just unwelcoming, he thinks.

Menar calls up Kolivan on a large screen. Keith’s spine straightens out of habit. He lifts his chin, posture stiff. Krolia and Menar straighten up too, but not to the extent that Keith does. They’re a lot more relaxed. Shiro gently nudges him in the side. Keith glances at him sideways and sees him tilt his head, eyebrow raised. Keith tilts his head too and shrugs, just barely. Shiro’s lips press together in a thin line before he looks back at Kolivan’s face on the screen.

“Krolia, Keith,” he greets them. Keith and Krolia both nod back at him.

“Kolivan,” Krolia says.

“You cut off contact,” he says evenly. Keith notices the slight change in his mother’s posture. She had been holding herself loosely, only just stiff enough to show respect towards Kolivan. Now, she shifts her feet to stand more solidly and crosses her arms, raising her chin. Her ears flatten back a little against her head.

“Not by choice, which I know you’re aware of. Just as you’re aware you sent my son on a suicide mission.”

Several people in the room inhale sharply at her words. Shiro stiffens beside him. Keith doesn’t look at his brother’s face, already able to guess at the look of anger that’s probably covered his features. Shiro’s not the only one, though. Keith casts a discreet glance at the rest of the team, seeing the anger in their expressions. It’s all directed at Kolivan. Keith feels a complicated little feeling in his chest. Menar moves to stand next to him, bumping his shoulder gently.

Kolivan’s nostrils flare, eyes flashing. “I did what was necessary,” he says sharply.

Krolia purses her lips. “We’ll discuss this further the next time I see you.” She glances over at Menar. “Will that be all?”

Menar glances between the two of them. “We’ve checked in,” she says. “It’s sufficient.” Kolivan opens his mouth to say something else, but she disconnects before he gets the chance. She turns around, crossing her arms and leaning against the control panel. “I can’t believe I hung up on Kolivan,” she says, looking at Krolia. And then, to Keith, “Did he really do that to you? Send you on a mission he knew you wouldn’t survive?”

Keith shrugs, not saying anything. Menar’s expression tightens. “Anyways,” she says, like she’s forcing the words out of her mouth, “let’s get you all settled in.” She glances at Lance, smiling a little. “And don’t worry about your Kaltenecker. We’ll get her set up on the base too.”

—

Menar leads the team to the barracks and lets them choose room. Krolia’s in the middle of watching Keith and Romelle struggle between asking to room with Lance and Allura, respectively, or completely avoiding them when Menar taps her shoulder.

“Can I speak to you quickly?” she asks. “In private?”

Krolia nods and follows her a little ways away, into the doorway of Menar’s room. She can still she the paladins from here, and she realizes suddenly that Menar had put their whole group close enough that she’d be able to come immediately if any of them needed help. Krolia smiles. It’s good to see that some of the Blades still put others before their missions, even in little ways. She turns her gaze back to Menar. “What is it?”

Menar looks away, biting her lip. “There is… a situation of sorts, with Kolivan and some of the other senior Blade members. They feel he’s become too harsh in the past few years. We’re losing members because he insists on leaving people behind for the sake of the mission. Some people think he’s no longer fit to lead. There’s—” She hesitates. “There are whispers of a plan for a coup.”

Krolia crosses her arms, leaning back against the doorway. “Why are you telling me this?” She keeps her voice gentle, trying not to sound harsh or critical. She needs to gain a better scope of the situation before she can act.

Menar takes a deep breath. “I want to offer your name as a candidate for a new leader.” Krolia opens her mouth to reply, but Menar plows on. “Just as an idea. We _need_ strong leadership, Krolia. The Blade can’t continue on Kolivan’s mission-first ideology, no matter how much some of us might want to believe otherwise. I’m not asking you to make a decision right now. I just want you to consider it.”

“I’ll think about it,” Krolia says after a moment. “I can’t guarantee what my answer will be, though. I want to see for myself what’s going on first.”

Menar nods, visibly relieved. “Thank you.”

—

Romelle notices Krolia’s hushed conversation with Menar. She strains her hearing a bit, trying to catch what they’re saying, but all she can grasp is the quiet murmur of their voices. She can’t read lips, either, otherwise she’d try to make out what Krolia’s saying, at least.

“Romelle?”

She snaps her gaze back to Allura. “Sorry,” she says. “I got distracted. What were you saying?”

Allura tilts her head a little. “I was saying I think it’s fine if the two of us share a room. Hunk and Pidge are sharing, and so are Lance and Keith. And Coran, Shiro, and Krolia have their own individual rooms. It works out for all of us.”

“Oh, that’s great!” Romelle can’t help the blush that creeps up her cheeks. “I mean, that’s great that it works out great, you know? Great for everyone.” She glances around and catches Keith’s eye. He sends her a slightly panicked look behind Lance’s back. She makes a similar expression back at him before looking around for Shiro. He raises his eyebrows at her, then tilts his head at Keith and raises his eyebrows again, grinning. She sticks her tongue out at him.

So she’s sharing a room with Allura. That’s fine.

—

So she’s going to be in close quarters with Romelle’s— Romelle’s everything. That’s wonderful.

—

So he’s going to have to see a sleep-rumpled Lance in the morning. That’s great, really. His heart won’t survive it, but it’s great.

—

So he’s gonna get a close up view of Keith’s new muscles _all the time._ It’s cool. It’s great. Everything’s fine.

It’s not fine. Lance leads Keith into the room they’re sharing, wondering what the hell got into him when he suggested that the two of them should room together. He’d been experiencing a bit of a bold moment, probably, thinking it would be a great idea to shove them together into a small space so that— so that what, exactly? Was he expecting something about being roommates to make Keith fall in love with him? Ridiculous.

“Lance?” He snaps out of his thoughts, looking over at where Keith’s standing next to the bunk beds. Keith’s head is tilted, brows furrowed together and forehead creased with concern. “You good? I swear I was trying to call you for a whole minute.”

“I’m fine,” Lance says, waving a hand. “Just thinking. What were you saying?”

“I just wanted to ask which bunk you wanna take? I don’t really have a preference, so,” Keith shrugs, gesturing at the beds, “it’s your choice.”

“Oh,” Lance says, looking the beds up and down. “Um. I’ll take the top bunk?” Keith nods and immediately sits down heavily on the bottom one, fingers already working at the clasps of his armour. Lance yelps. “Dude! Why are you getting naked?”

Keith looks up. “This armour’s kinda uncomfy after a while. And Menar had our clothes brought here already as soon as we chose the rooms. See?” He pushes a panel on the side of his bed and a drawer slides out. His shirt and pants and boots are in there.

“No jacket?” Lance notes as he climbs up to his bunk and tries out his own drawer. Actually, now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t seen Keith wear his jacket in ages.

Keith shrugs. “I grew a bit in the Abyss. Doesn’t really fit anymore.”

“Ah.” Lance sits in the middle of his bed, squirming around and shimmying out of his armour and into his regular clothes. He pulls the collar of his jacket up to his nose, inhaling the familiar scent of the cloth. So much better than the sweat-stale-cold smell of the paladin armour. He’s never really been able to get used to that. “So,” he says after he’s done changing. “Nice digs, huh?”

He hears a rustle from Keith’s bunk, and then a noncommittal grunt. “I’m not the biggest fan,” Keith says, something strange in his voice.

“Oh?” Lance sticks his head over the edge of the bunk. Keith’s lying down, staring at the bottom of Lance’s mattress. His eyes meet Lance’s, and they’re a little too shiny. Lance moves without thinking, dropping down to the ground and then sitting on Keith’s bed, legs criss-crossed. “Do— do you wanna talk about it?” he asks, as gentle as he can.

Keith sighs, sitting up. “It’s not—” He stops, takes a few breaths. “It’s dumb. You don’t have to care about it.”

“Hey.” Lance shifts around so they’re sitting shoulder to shoulder. He can feel the warmth of Keith’s skin even through their shirts and his hoodie. “You’re my friend. I’m gonna care, even if I don’t have to. And for the record? Whatever it is, I promise I won’t think it’s dumb.”

Keith pulls his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on them. “I just— it’s really lonely here,” he says after a moment. “I couldn’t connect with anyone. Well, no, I was okay with some people, like Menar. But everyone else was so… cold? Distant? Unemotional? And I just. I realized I didn’t know how to deal with that. I thought I’d gotten used to being alone, that I didn’t really need people at all. And then I realized I was wrong.” He slumps sideways against Lance. Lance lifts his arm and puts it around Keith’s shoulders, tucking Keith in against his side.

“Hey,” he says, running his thumb back and forth over Keith’s sleeve, “think about it this way. You have us now, all of us. And we’re not gonna let you feel alone again, ever.” He holds his other hand up in front of Keith’s face, fingers curled in with the pinky sticking out. “Promise.”

Keith raises his hand and curls his own pinky around Lance’s. Lance tries not to focus on how warm Keith’s skin is, how he can feel the callouses as they tilt their joined hands and press their thumbs together. Now’s not the time.

Keith turns his head. Lance turns his too, to meet Keith’s eyes, and finds them both almost nose-to-nose. “Thanks, Lance,” Keith says softly.

 _His mouth is right there!_ Lance’s mind screams. _Kiss him!_

But no, now is really not the time. Keith is vulnerable, and making a move right now would be taking advantage of his emotional state. So Lance tunes out the suggestions from his mind and smiles back at Keith.

“Anytime, buddy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao lmao lmao
> 
> i'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/criticaihits/) and [tumblr](https://demigodau.tumblr.com/)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> closure, of a sort

i've decided to abandon this work (a while ago, actually) because i lost my passion for it, but i still want the story i spent so long thinking of to be told. so, for your reading pleasure, here is [what i wrote for chapter four](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JFLWnkBt61VJ0O9PmAouMwaGj6alU4a-Y9Jrvammb9k/edit?usp=sharing), as well as [my original plot outline (colour-coded!)](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Bp6txKdw_VerMVc6xtYg36d0UvHHx5btU4guiMucjkE/edit?usp=sharing), and the [pinterest board i made for this fic](https://www.pinterest.ca/breakupsongs/fic-far-beyond-the-universe/).

if you've read this fic, thank you. if you've loved this fic, thank you. i loved it, i still love it, but i don't think i have the energy to put into this story anymore. that said, if anyone wants to take this plot and adapt it, they're more than welcome. all i ask is that you credit me and send me a link so i can read it!

thanks one last time. it means a lot to me that you read and enjoyed something i created. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/criticaihits) [tumblr](https://demigodau.tumblr.com)


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